The article discusses the issues of violation of the principles of economic development to the detriment of social development on the example of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The analysis showed that the reasons for the protests or the impetus for the revolutionary events were the growth of inflation against the background of a decrease in real incomes of the population and the erroneous course of the Government of the Republic in solving social issues. The article set a goal related to the identification of economic factors, trends and patterns that served social protests in Kazakhstan. The article sets and solves the tasks of comparative analysis of the economies of Kazakhstan and Russia through the prism of social consequences, since the structure of their economies is largely similar. Taking into account the interweaving of economic, social, ethnic and other processes, a polymethodological approach of research is stated, based, on the one hand, on Marxist theory, on the other hand, on neo-institutional theory. Such a methodical approach allows you to build a system and assess the conditions and environment that led to a social explosion. A comparative analysis of the economies of Kazakhstan and Russia showed that Kazakhstan is dominated by a rent-based economy, thanks to which there was a super concentration of national income in favor of the national elite. In the economy of the Russian Federation, there has been a tilt in favor of a self-sufficient model of economic growth with a predominant focus on domestic demand. It is proved that the state policy implemented in Kazakhstan has come into conflict with the economic laws of the formation and distribution of public goods, there are essentially two economies in the republic, namely, one for the national elite and foreign investors, the other for the rest of the people. In the system of public relations of Kazakhstan, the polarity of the socio-economic development of society, which has an ethnic and territorial coloring, is visible. In order to prevent the expansion of the social explosion in Kazakhstan and to prevent it in Russia, it is proposed to make adjustments to the economic development models in favor of the implementation of social projects, taking into account the trends and patterns of development of national economies on the principles of a self-sufficient model with a predominant focus on domestic demand.