The central argument behind this paper is that there is an " expiration date" for the effects of the iron law of oligarchies, a proposal that Robert Michels coined in his 1911 book, Political Parties. In the first section, we sketch out the social and institutional bases that served as a propitious context for turning the European socialist parties of the early twentieth century into oligarchical parties: the expansion of suffrage and the integration of candidates without property or high income into electoral competition, combining electoral reform with the substitution of majority vote for proportional representation. This was accompanied by shifting the making and organizing of candidate lists to the hands of party leadership. In the second section, we seek to provide some nuance to Robert Michels' somber prognosis on party organization, considering the factors that contribute to a greater or lesser delegation of internal power to party leaders.
Robert Michels; Iron Law of Oligarchy; Democracy; Political Parties; Party Organization
