Why Michels’ ‘iron law of oligarchy’ is not an iron law – and how democratic organisations can stay ‘oligarchy-free’
从理论和方法论上批判了米歇尔斯关于寡头统治不可避免的‘铁律’，指出其理论缺陷，并展示了民主组织如何避免寡头化。
More than 100 years ago, Robert Michels laid out his theory of the ‘iron law of oligarchy’. The main, and crucial, point Michels made is that oligarchy will always emerge; even in the case of genuine attempts to organise and run organisations in non-oligarchic or non-hierarchical ways, the iron law allegedly holds sway. This paper critically examines, and refutes, Michels’ theory on theoretical and methodological grounds. It argues that his theory is in many ways insufficient and that his dictum of the unavoidability of oligarchisation is not as compelling and cogent as stereotypical references to it might imply. Moreover, the paper shows that alternative/democratic organisations actually have a whole range of means to avoid oligarchisation.