Political Parties

Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 (translated to English in 1915), and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy. It is considered one of the classics of sociology and political science.

This work analyzes the power structures of organizations such as political parties and trade unions. Michels's main argument is that like all organizations, even those in theory most egalatarian and most committed to democracy - like socialist political parties - are in fact oligarchical, and dominated by a small group of leadership.

Quotes

• "Who says organization, says oligarchy."

See also

• elite theory
• Union Democracy

Further reading

• Gordon Hands, Roberto Michels and the Study of Political Parties , British Journal of Political Science, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Apr., 1971), pp. 155-172, JSTOR

External links

• Political Parties, Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library
• Robert Michels index, a site featuring a translation of Political Parties by Eden and Cedar Paul in PDF.