This article analyzes the process of formation of socio- political movement in the national regions of South Siberia. The methodological basis of the research is method of modernization ideas transit. The author highlights regional characteristics in the formation of the civil society on the basis of cross-regional comparisons. In 1988– 1989 in the Soviet Union, laws were adopted which were to regulate the activities of public organizations. It was the idea of transit for the development of similar processes in different regions of the country, including South Siberia. Despite the fact that modernization impulse (or idea) given by the central government, was equal to all regions, its implementation was of a different character. In Tuva, socio-political movement was not institutional, but had a spontaneous and national character. In Khakasia the development of civic organizations was associated with the development of the ethnic awareness and national identity of the people. The creative intelligentsia provided the maximum impact in this process. The democratization of the political process in the Altai Republic was the result of the activity of the population in the fight against the building of Katun hydroelectric.