One of the specific features of the Russian power holding mode was that most modernizing projects were implemented with huge human and material expenses, many of them vain. Numerically great population and rich natural resources were the reasons why the Russian rulers have not cared for both human lives and
material wealth. «The state got mighty, the people got downgraded» – this thesis by V. Klyuchevsky sheds light on the social politics of the Russian power holders throughout centuries.
Keywords
Russian power holders, autocracy, soviet power, post-soviet power, Russian state and society, social responsibility.
