Robert michels

Robert Michels (born January 9, 1876, in Cologne; d. May 2, 1936, in Rome) was a German sociologist and political scientist, specializing in the political behavior of elites. intellectuals. He is mostly known for his book Political Parties, which contains a description of his 'iron law of oligarchy'. He was a student of Max Weber.

Biography

He was born in Germany into a wealthy merchant family, and was a university doctor. His socialist militancy prevented him from teaching in Germany, but not in Italy, where he became a doctor and professor at the University of Perugia.

At first, he joined the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), and represented it in the Second International. He leaves it in 1907. Some time later, in 1924, he joins the Italian National Fascist Party.

Scientifically, he is influenced by elitists, Max Weber and Vilfredo Pareto. He writes works on political party systems and develops his iron law of the oligarchy .

Iron law of the oligarchy

Michels has an extensive body of work as a sociologist. He studies parties, unions, National Socialism and nationalism in the fascist era.

In his work Los partidos políticos, he formulated the "iron law of the oligarchy", with which he affirmed that "both in autocracy and in democracy, the a minority"; the basic idea is that every organization becomes oligarchic.

The leaders, although in principle they are guided by the will of the masses and call themselves revolutionaries, soon emancipate themselves from it and become conservatives. The leader will always seek to increase or maintain his power at any cost, even forgetting his old ideals.

For this reason, political organizations soon cease to be a means to achieve certain socioeconomic objectives and become an end in themselves (displacement of objectives).

The iron law of the oligarchy is based on three arguments:

• First, the larger the organizations are made, the more they become bureaucratized, since, on the one hand, they specialize, and on the other, they must make increasingly complex decisions and in a faster way. Those individuals who know how to deal with the complex issues facing the organization are becoming indispensable, forming the elite.

• Second, a dichotomy between efficiency and internal democracyso that for the organization to be efficient it needs strong leadership, at the expense of a lesser internal democracy.

• Thirdly, the very psychology of the masses makes leadership desirable, since they are apathetic, inept to solve problems by themselves; they are grateful to the leader, and they tend to worship the personality. Their only function would then be to choose their leaders from time to time.

Leadership annuls democracy, since it is understood by Michels in the Rousseauian way, as government of the people.

Parliamentarism contributes to oligarchization (specialization of tasks, commissions...); it makes the leader essential; it is routine (the leader can make use of the technical capacities acquired from him). Parliamentarianism gives the leader more opportunities to automate. The caste of leaders (oligarchy) closes like a phalanx, as they help each other to avoid competition from new leaders emerging from the masses (oligarchic trust).

The only thing the masses can do is substitute one leader for another. That is why the leaders maintain some link with the masses, even alliances against new leaders. The old leaders appeal to discipline, which reduces the freedom of expression of the masses.

The organization is what gives rise to the domination of the elect over the electors, of the rulers over the rulers, of the delegates over the delegates. Whoever says organization says oligarchy.

Democracy would be a better system for the selection of oligarchies than a hereditary system. In 1911 Michels still spoke of democracy as the lesser evil. Later he will opt for the fascist theses ^{[ citation needed ]} .

Bibliography in Spanish

• The political parties. A sociological study of the oligarchical tendencies of modern democracy. 2 Tomos: ISBN 978-950-518-197-1 and ISBN 978-950-518-198-8. Amorrortu editors (2nd, ed. 2008)