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The iron law of oligarchy is a political theory first developed by the German-born Italian sociologist Robert Michels in his 1911 book Political Parties. [1] It asserts that rule by an elite, or oligarchy , is inevitable as an "iron law" within any democratic organization as part of the "tactical and technical necessities" of the organization.
[1] [2] He is best known for his book Political Parties, published in 1911, which contains a description of the "iron law of oligarchy." [3] [4] [5] He was a friend and disciple of Max Weber, Werner Sombart and Achille Loria.
Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy (German: Zur Soziologie des Parteiwesens in der modernen Demokratie; Untersuchungen über die oligarchischen Tendenzen des Gruppenlebens) is a book by the German-born Italian sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy.
Sociologist Michels developed the iron law of oligarchy where, he asserts, social and political organizations are run by few individuals, and social organization and labor division are key. He believed that all organizations were elitist and that elites have three basic principles that help in the bureaucratic structure of political organization:
Iron law of population, from Thomas Malthus' An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798) Iron law of wages, from Ferdinand Lassalle's Subsistence theory of wages (mid 19th century) Iron law of oligarchy, from Michels' Political Parties; Iron law of processor performance, posited by Joel Emer; Iron law of prohibition, from Cohen's How the ...
In 1911, Robert Michels first proposed the Iron law of oligarchy, which described the development of bureaucratic hierarchies in supposedly egalitarian and democratic socialist parties. [11] It was later repeated by a leader of the Russian Revolution, Leon Trotsky through his theory of degenerated workers state.
The Iron Law states that in every case the second group will gain and keep control of the organization. It will write the rules, and control promotions within the organization. [85] This is related to the iron law of oligarchy and to the Self-licking ice cream cone.
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