Iron law of oligarchy: Difference between revisions

Michels' theory states that all socialist organizations, regardless of how democratic they are when started, eventually develop into oligarchies. Michels observed that since no sufficiently large and complex organization can function purely as a [[direct democracy]], [[Power (social and political)|power]] within an organization will always get delegated to individuals within that group, elected or otherwise. As he put it in ''Political Parties'', "It is organization which gives dominion of the elected over the electors. [...] Who says organization, says oligarchy."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Michels |first1=Robert |author1-link=Robert Michels |last2=Paul |first2=E. |last3=Paul |first3=C. |title=Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy |publisher=Hearst's International Library Company |year=1915 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8XXl87CLp5cC |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8XXl87CLp5cC&dq=%22who%20says%20organization,%20says%20oligarchy%22&pg=PA401 401]}}</ref>

 

 

According to Michels, all organizations eventually come to be run by a leadership class who often function as paid [[Administrator of the government|administrator]]s, [[Executive (government)|executive]]s, [[spokesperson]]s or [[Political consulting|political strategist]]s for the organization. Far from being servants of the masses, Michels argues this leadership class, rather than the organization's membership, will inevitably grow to dominate the organization's [[power structure]]s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Zheng |first=Y. |title=Civilization and the Chinese Body Politic |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |series=China Policy Series |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-000-64239-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt-PEAAAQBAJ |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt-PEAAAQBAJ&pg=Pt416 416]}}</ref> By controlling who has access to information, those in power can [[Centralized government|centralize]] their power successfully, often with little accountability, due to the [[Voter apathy|apathy]], [[Political alienation|indifference]] and non-participation most rank-and-file members have in relation to their organization's decision-making processes.{{cn|date=June 2023<!-- see https://www.google.com/books/edition/Civilization_and_the_Chinese_Body_Politi/Bt-PEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=by%20controlling%20who%20has%20access%20to%20information - but what page is that?-->}} Michels argues that democratic attempts to hold leadership positions [[accountability|accountable]] are prone to fail, since with power comes the ability to reward [[loyalty]], the ability to control information about the organization, and the ability to control what procedures the organization follows when making decisions. All of these mechanisms can be used to strongly influence the outcome of any decisions made 'democratically' by members.<ref>{{cite book |first=Robert |last=Michels |url=http://socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/michels/polipart.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070512072758/http://socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/michels/polipart.pdf |archive-date=2007-05-12 |title=Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy |orig-year=1915 |translator=Eden and Cedar Paul |location=Kitchener, Ontario |publisher=Batoche Books |date=2001 |page=241}}</ref>