THE SOCIAL CAPITAL IN REGIONAL POLITICAL NETWORKS (BY EXAMPLE OF TOMSK REGION)

Political networks in the regional policy are investigated, the typology of network communities by the quality of the social capital is tested. The social capital of the first type exists in the form of common norms, rules of behavior, a stock of social contacts and corresponds to the social networks of the open type. The social capital of the second type acts as personified trust, in the form of local group norms and rules, personal contacts of the subject, and corresponds to the closed social networks. The most important components of open networks are non-participation of authorities in making business decisions and in appropriation of their results, as well as the so-called "club" barriers when entering a network. The loss of status when leaving a network, authorities' participation in making business decisions and in appropriation of their results are such components for closed networks. These features were used for the diagnosis of political networks which develop in the regional policy, and also for singling out the specific functions of a political network: regulatory, distributive and sanctioning. During the research the special significance of the sanctioning function in closed networks was proved both for functioning of network interactions and for the recognition of the features of closed networks in the political space of the region. The value of deformalization of the relations and mechanisms of exclusion from a network as indicators of the closed networks is stressed. The diagnostics of the political networks in Tomsk Region was realized on the basis of the interviews with experts, and the assessment of those networks as closed ones was founded. The experts confirmed the opinion on the decisive nature of informal communications in network interaction, and allocated sectoral, patriotic and ethnic relations among the informal relations. Official platforms of interaction of the state authorities and civil society are considered by experts as ineffective. In addition, views about the formal nature of these agencies, non-optimality of their composition and their insufficient supply of necessary resources were expressed. Inclusion in the system of informal relations is considered by experts as a natural consequence of long professional activity. The situations of prosecution and dismissal are the signs of exclusion from a political network. Exclusion from a network is linked to the "non-systemic" behavior of the excluded and it is associated with a complete loss of status due to the participation of law enforcement and judicial bodies in this process. It can be noted that the closed nature of political networks and business accretion with the authorities contributes to the reproduction of a mono-centrist noncompetitive mode in the region.