Przywództwo oligarchiczne i jego społeczne uwarunkowania w świetle „Partii Politycznych” Roberta Michelsa
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Date
2012
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Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM
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Oligarchic leadership and its social conditioning in the light of Robert Michels’ Political Parties
Abstract
The paper attempts to present the ideas of Robert Michels, known as the author of the “iron
law of oligarchy.” Unfortunately, this disciple and coworker of Max Weber is relatively unpopular
in Poland. His fundamental work has not been published in Polish so far, while his
thoughts appear to remain both original and topical. According to Michels, the need for organization
and leadership comes from the masses, which tend to be passive and require direction.
In the opinion of the author of the Political Parties, the mass character of ‘contemporary’
social phenomena makes directly-democratic leadership impossible. Even those institutions
that are the most fervent supporters of the idea of such democracy are only an ‘average’ reflection
of this ideally-typical system. An average model illustrates to what extent decision-
making practices maintain only the appearances of democratic standards whereas the
whole system observes an intensifying deficit of direct democracy. Robert Michels discusses
the technical and administrative conditions of leadership and its autocratic nature, which is the
core of the paper.
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Przegląd Politologiczny, 2012, nr 1, s. 107-113.