Michels achieved international recognition for his historical and sociological study,Zur Soziologie des Parteiwesens in der modernen Demokratie. Untersuchungen über die oligarchischen Tendenzen des Gruppenlebens, which was published in 1911;[9] its title in English isPolitical Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy. In it, he presented his theory of the "iron law of oligarchy" that political parties, including those considered socialist, cannot be democratic because they quickly transform themselves into bureaucratic oligarchies.
In Italy, Michels studied theelite theory writings ofVilfredo Pareto.[13] After 1911, he abandoned gradually his socialist ideas.[14] In 1924, he joined theNational Fascist Party led byBenito Mussolini. There are different interpretations among scholars for this change. One interpretation is that Michels as a disillusioned idealist consideredfascism as an alternative to the problems of democracy and bureaucracy. Another interpretation is that Michels incorporated elite theory into his own political thought and began to consider thecharismatic authority (as proclaimed byMax Weber) as the most logical hope to avoid bureaucratic domination.[15]
In 1928, Michels became professor of economics and the history of doctrines at theUniversity of Perugia,[16] and occasionally lectured inRome. He caught an illness in Bordeaux and died soon thereafter in Rome on May 3, 1936.[12]
Syndicalisme & socialisme en Allemagne (Unionism & Socialism in Germany) (1908)[17]
Proletariato e la borghesia nel movimento socialista italiano (The Proletariat and the Bourgeoisie in the Italian Socialist Movement) (1908; 1975)
Zur Soziologie des Parteiwesens in der modernen Demokratie. Untersuchungen über die oligarchischen Tendenzen des Gruppenlebens (On the Sociology of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy) (1911, 1925; 1970). Translated, asSociologia del partito politico nella democrazia moderna : studi sulle tendenze oligarchiche degli aggregati politici, from the German original by Dr.Alfredo Polledro, revised and expanded (1912). Translated, from the Italian, byEden andCedar Paul asPolitical Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy (Hearst's International Library Co., 1915;Free Press, 1949;Dover Publications, 1959); republished with an introduction bySeymour Martin Lipset (Crowell-Collier, 1962;Transaction Publishers, 1999,ISBN0-7658-0469-7); onlineat archive.org; translated into French by S. Jankélévitch,Les partis politiques. Essai sur les tendances oligarchiques des démocraties, Brussels, Editions de l'Université de Bruxelles, 2009 (ISBN978-2-8004-1443-0).
Sittlichkeit in Ziffern? Kritik der Moralstatistik (Morality in Numerics? Criticism of Morale Statistics) (1928)
Patriotismus, Prolegomena zu seiner soziologischen Analyse (Patriotism, Prolegomena to his sociological analysis) (1929)
Einfluss der faschistischen Arbeitsverfassung auf die Weltwirtschaft (Influence of the Fascist Arbeitsverfassung[18] on the World Economy) (1929)
Italien von heute. Politische und wirtschaftliche Kulturgeschichte von 1860 bis 1930 (Italy Today - Political and Economical Cultural History from 1860 to 1930) (1930)
Introduzione alla storia delle dottrine economiche e politiche (Introduction to the history of economic and political doctrines) (1932)
Umschichtungen in den herrschenden Klassen nach dem Kriege (1934)[19]
Boicottaggio, saggio su un aspetto delle crisi (Boycotts, an essay on an aspect of crises) (1934)
Boycottage international (International boycotts) (1936)
Verelendungstheorie. Studien und Untersuchungen zur internationalen Dogmengeschichte der Volkswirtschaft, with a foreword byHeinz Maus (Pauperization Theory - Studies and Research into International Dogmas History of National Economy) (1970)
Elite e/o democrazia (Elites and/or democracy) (G. Volpe, 1972)
Antologia di scritti sociologici (Anthology of publications on sociology); edited byGiordano Sivini (1980)
Critique du socialisme : contribution aux débats du début du XXè siècle (Critique of Socialism: contributions to the debates at the start of the 20th century); articles selected and presented byPierre Cours-Salies andJean-Marie Vincent (Editions Kimé, 1992,ISBN2-908212-43-9)
^Problems in Eugenics: Papers communicated to the First International Eugenics Congress Held at the University of London, July 24th to 30th, 1912. London: The Eugenics Education Society. 1913.
^Speech by Robert Michels at international syndicalist conference (Paris, 3 April 1907). Analysis of the situation of the Left in Germany. Online here[1] (Archive.org)
^German wordArbeitsverfassung fromArbeitsverfassung-Gesetz, which means: Federal law on labour relations
Volpe, Giorgio:Italian Elitism and the Reshaping of Democracy in the United States, Routledge, 2021ISBN9780367629700
For a critique of Michels see Colin Barker ‘Robert Michels and the “Cruel Game”’ in Colin Barker et al eds. Leadership and Social Movements (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2001)
"Robert Michels And the "Iron Law of Oligarchy"," chapter 12 ofRevolution and Counterrevolution: Change and Persistence in Social Structures bySeymour Martin Lipset
Entwicklung zum faschistischen Führerstaat in der politischen Philosophie von Robert Michels byFrank Pfetsch (1965)
Robert Michels : die Herausbildung der modernen politischen Soziologie im Kontext von Herausforderung und Defizit der Arbeiterbewegung byJoachim Hetscher (1993)
Robert Michels und das eiserne Gesetz der Oligarchie by Gustav Wagner in "Wer wählt, hat seine Stimme abgegeben" Graswurzel Revolution pp. 28
Federico Trocini,Tra internazionalismo e nazionalismo. Robert Michels e i dilemmi del socialismo di fronte alla guerra e all’imperialismo (1900-1915), Aracne, Roma 2007.
Federico Trocini,Irredentismo e patriottismo nella scelta italiana di Robert Michels (1895–1915): un’«arcana affinità elettiva», in «Annali dell’Istituto italo-germanico in Trento», XXXIII, 2007, pp. 449–490.
Federico Trocini,Robert Michels: un marxista eterodosso al tempo della Seconda Internazionale (1900-1910), in POGGIO P. P. (a cura di),L’Altronovecento. Comunismo eretico e pensiero critico, 5 voll., Jaca Book, Milano 2010, vol. I (L’età del comunismo sovietico. Europa 1900–1945), pp. 305–319.
Genett, Timm:Der Fremde im Kriege – Zur politischen Theorie und Biographie von Robert Michels 1876–1936. 2008.[1]ISBN978-3-05-004408-8
Genett, Timm (Hrsg.):Robert Michels: Soziale Bewegungen zwischen Dynamik und Erstarrung. Essays zur Arbeiter-, Frauen- und nationalen Bewegung. 2008.ISBN978-3-05-004388-3
Genett, Timm: "Antiquierter Klassiker? Zum ideengeschichtlichen Status von Robert Michels‘ „Soziologie des Parteiwesens“", in: Bluhm, Fischer, Lllanque (Hg.):Ideenpolitik, Berlin 2011, S.383–296.
Genett, Timm: "Demokratische Sozialpädagogik in der Krise der Aufklärung – zur Ambivalenz eines Klassikers der Elitetheorie", in: Bluhm, Krause (Hg.):Robert Michels‘ Soziologie des Parteiwesens, Wiesbaden 2012, S. 69–85.
Genett, Timm: "Lettere di Ladislaus Gumplowicz a Roberto Michels (1902-1907)", in:Annali della Fondazione Luigi Einaudi, Vol. XXXI, Torino 1997, S. 417–473.
Genett, Timm: "Lettere di Roberto Michels e di Julius Springer (1913-1915)", in:Annali della Fondazione Luigi Einaudi, Vol. XXX, Torino 1996, S. 533–555.
Robert Michels‘ Soziologie des Parteiwesens, hrsg v. Harald Bluhm und Skadi Krause, Wiesbaden 2012
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