Political Parties

Robert Michels

Simon and Schuster, 1968 - Political Science - 380 pages

In this book Michels analyzes the tendencies that oppose the realization of democracy, and claims that these tendencies can be classified in three ways: dependence upon the nature of the individual; dependence upon the nature of the political structure; and dependence upon the nature of organization. This edition, described by Morris Janowitz as a "classic of modern social science" and by Melvin Tumin as "the beginning of a tradition", offers a landmark study in political science. Following its original publication in 1910, the study and analysis of political parties was established as a new branch of science. Political Parties continues to be a foundation work in the literature and is a necessary addition to the libraries of contemporary political scientists, sociologists, and historians. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Contents

• Democratic Aristocracy and Aristocratic Democracy: 43
• A Technical and Administrative Causes of Leadership: 61
• The Modern Democratic Party as a Fighting Party: 78
• The Political Gratitude of the Masses: 92
• Accessory Peculiarities of the Masses: 105
• The Stability of Leadership: 117
• The Financial Power of the Leaders and of the Party: 129
• The Leaders and the Press: 149
• The Struggle Between the Leaders and the Masses: 167
• Bureaucracy Centralizing and Decentralizing Tend: 188
• Part ThreeThe Exercise of Power and Its Psychological: 203
• Bonapartist Ideology: 212
• Identification of the Party with the Leader Le Parti: 220
• Introductory The Class Struggle and Its Disintegrat: 227
• Analysis of the Bourgeois Elements in Socialist: 238
• Social Changes Resulting from Organization: 254
• The Need for the Differentiation of the Working: 271
• Labor Leaders of Proletarian Origin: 277
• Intellectuals and the Need for Them in the Working: 293
• Part FiveAttempts to Restrict the Influence of the Leaders: 305
• The Postulate of Renunciation: 312
• Anarchism as Prophylactic: 325
• The Oligarchical Tendencies: 331
• Democracy and the Iron Law of Oligarchy: 342
• PartyLife in WarTime: 357
• Final Considerations: 364
• Index of Names: 373

About the author

Robert Michels was a German sociologist who spent the last 10 years of his life in Italy. In the English-speaking world, he is most famous for his book "Political Parties" (1911), in which he formulated the problem of the oligarchic tendencies of organizations. "He who says organization," he asserted, "says oligarchy." But political parties, he believed, are less oligarchic than single-purpose organizations concerned with specific reforms or with technical problems. An important study of the International Typographical Union, "Union Democracy" by Seymour M. Lipset, Martin A. Trow, and James S. Coleman (1956), has been said by some scholars to challenge many of Michels's findings about organizations. Rather, by pointing out the essential characteristics of a democratic trade union, this book confirms Michels's thesis. Michels also wrote about democracy, socialism, revolution, class conflict, trade unionism, mass society, nationalism, imperialism, and intellectuals, and he made intensive studies of the politics of the working class.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Political Parties; Political Science
• Author: Robert Michels
• Translated by: Eden Paul, Cedar Paul
• Publisher: Simon and Schuster, 1968
• ISBN: 0029212502, 9780029212509
• Length: 380 pages
• Subjects: Political Science / General; Political Science / Political Process / Political Parties