Elites in the Russian Federation are considered - military, medical, scientific, party, pedagogical, political and administrative, law enforcement, trade union, religious, sports, economic, as well as elites in the field of culture and the media. The textbook was prepared on the basis of federal laws and other regulatory legal acts, literature, statistics, documents of public organizations. For undergraduate, specialty and graduate students studying political science, elitology, sociology, social philosophy. It can be used by students studying in educational programs of professional retraining and advanced training in the system of additional vocational education.