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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.
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 ...
WASHINGTON ― President Joe Biden delivered a vigorous defense of his record and warned of an American "oligarchy" in a primetime address from the Oval Office as he bid farewell to four years in ...
Michels argued that this amounted to an iron law of oligarchy: all groups, regardless of how democratic they may be at the start, eventually and inevitably develop into oligarchies with swollen bureaucracies. Michels himself, after falling out with the German Social Democrat Party, migrated to Italy and joined Mussolini's Fascist Party.
The term oligarchy refers to a government that is run by a handful of people, often for their own gain. The president went on to say there could be "dangerous consequences if their abuse of power ...
"Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone ...
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: