Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy - Robert Michels

nFirst published in German in 1911, this book introduces the concept of iron law oligarchy. nConsidered a classic text of social sciences, Political Parties analyzes the power structures of organizations such as political parties and trade unions. n nRobert Michels argues that all organizations, even those in theory most egalitarian and most committed to democracy, such as socialist political parties, are in fact oligarchical and dominated by a small group of leadership.n