Political Sociology: Why Every Organization Drifts Toward Oligarchy
Elites, social cleavages, how we acquire political views, public opinion, protest, populism, media and social capital: the social forces beneath politics.
Try 3 questions
1. Robert Michels formulated the "iron law of oligarchy" after studying what kind of organization?
- A military dictatorship at war
- A socialist party committed to democracy
- A royal court in a period of decline
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Answer: A socialist party committed to democracy
Michels chose a party devoted to equality to show that even organizations built on democratic ideals end up dominated by a few leaders.
2. Why, for Michels, do even democratic organizations end up run by a small group?
- Large organizations need full-time leaders who gain control
- Members vote to abolish internal elections
- Laws require every organization to have one leader
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Answer: Large organizations need full-time leaders who gain control
Leaders acquire expertise, control communications and resources, and develop interests of their own, while ordinary members lack time to supervise them.
3. Vilfredo Pareto famously described history as what?
- A steady march toward human equality
- A graveyard of aristocracies
- An endless cycle of identical kings
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Answer: A graveyard of aristocracies
Pareto argued that elites always rule but never last: new elites rise, displace old ones and decay in turn, a process he called the circulation of elites.
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