"The Iron Law of Oligarchy asserts that rule by an elite, or oligarchy, is inevitable as an 'iron law' within any democratic organization as part of the 'tactical and technical necessities' of the organization."
"All complex organizations, regardless of how democratic they start, develop into oligarchies. No large and complex organization can function purely as a direct democracy; power within an organization will always get delegated to individuals within that group, elected or not."
"Robert Michels addressed the application of this law to representative democracy, and stated: 'Who says organization, says oligarchy.' He went on to state that 'Historical evolution mocks all the prophylactic measures that have been adopted for the prevention of oligarchy.'"
"All organizations eventually come to be run by a 'leadership class', who often function as paid administrators, executives, spokespersons or political strategists for the organization."
"Far from being 'servants of the masses', this 'leadership class', rather than the organization's membership, will inevitably grow to dominate the organization's power structures."
"By controlling who has access to information, those in power can centralize their power, often with little accountability, due to the apathy, indifference and non-participation most rank-and-file members have in relation to their organization's decision-making processes."
"Democratic attempts to hold leadership positions accountable are prone to fail, since with power comes the ability to reward loyalty, to control information about the organization, and to control what procedures the organization follows when making decisions."
"The official goal of representative democracy of eliminating elite rule is impossible, representative democracy is a façade legitimizing the rule of a particular elite, and that elite rule--oligarchy--is inevitable."
"In 1911 Robert Michels argued that paradoxically the socialist parties of Europe, despite their democratic ideology, were dominated by their leaders just like traditional conservative parties. Michels' conclusion was that the problem lay in the very nature of organizations."
"The more liberal and democratic modern era allowed the formation of organizations with innovative and revolutionary goals, but as such organizations became more complex, they became less and less democratic and revolutionary."
"Darcy K. Leach summarized the factors underlying the Iron Law of Oligarchy briefly as: 'Bureaucracy happens. If bureaucracy happens, power rises. Power corrupts.'"
"Any large organization has to create a bureaucracy in order to maintain its efficiency as it becomes larger—many decisions have to be made daily that cannot be made by large numbers of disorganized people..."
"...For the organization to function effectively, centralization has to occur and power will end up in the hands of a few. Those few—the oligarchy—will use all means necessary to preserve and further increase their power."
"Delegation leads to specialization—to the development of knowledge bases, skills and resources among a leadership—which further alienates the leadership from the rank and file and entrenches the leadership in office."
"Michels also argued that for leaders in organizations, 'The desire to dominate is universal. These are elementary psychological facts.' Thus, they are prone to seek power and dominance."
"Bureaucratization and specialization are the driving processes behind the Iron Law. They result in the rise of a group of professional administrators in a hierarchical organization, which in turn leads to the rationalization and routinization of authority and decision-making."
"Bureaucracy by design leads to centralization of power by the leaders. Leaders also have control over sanctions and rewards. They tend to promote those who share their opinions, which inevitably leads to self-perpetuating oligarchy."
"Leaders control the information that flows down the channels of communication, censoring what they do not want the rank-and-file to know. Leaders will also dedicate significant resources to persuade the rank-and-file of the rightness of their views."
"The Iron Law of Oligarchy states that organizations, regardless of how democratic they start, will eventually and inevitably develop oligarchic tendencies, thus making true democracy practically and theoretically impossible, especially in large groups and complex organizations."
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