Robert Michels
Sign in to saveGerman sociologist (1876–1936)
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 1876-01-09
- Died
- 1936-05-02
- Works
- 34
Top works
- Sexual Ethics
- Political Parties; A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy
- Sittlichkeit in Ziffern?
- Political Parties Sociological Study Olgrchcl
- Archiv Für Sozialwissenschaft und Sozialpolitik; Volume 22
via Open Library + Wikidata
Listeners · Last.fm
- Listeners
- 3
- Total plays
- 3
<a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Robert+Michels">Read more on Last.fm</a>
Key facts
- Born
- ( 1876-01-09 ) 9 January 1876, Cologne , German Empire
- Died
- 3 May 1936 (1936-05-03) (aged 60), Rome , Fascist Italy
- Influences
- Le Bon Sorel Pareto Mosca Loria Sombart Weber
- School or tradition
- Italian school of elitism
- Institutions
- University of Marburg University of Perugia University of Turin University of Basel
- Notable works
- Political Parties (1911)
- Notable ideas
- Iron law of oligarchy , Moderation theory
- Influenced
- Bryce Burnham Duverger McKenzie Lipset Neumann Moldbug
- Political party
- Social Democratic Party of Germany (–1907), National Fascist Party (1924–1936)
via Wikipedia infobox
Key dates
- Born
- 9 January 1876
- Died
- 2 May 1936
via Wikidata · CC0
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Robert
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Kingdom of Italy
- Place of birth
- Cologne
- Place of death
- Rome
- Occupation
- philosopher
- Educated at
- Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
- Political party
- Italian Socialist Party
- Languages spoken
- German
Article
Robert Michels ( German: [ˈmɪçəls]; 9 January 1876 – 3 May 1936) was a German-born Italian sociologist who contributed to elite theory by describing the political behavior of intellectual elites. He belonged to the Italian school of elitism. He is known best for his book Political Parties, published in 1911, which contains a description of the "iron law of oligarchy".
Michels was a friend and disciple of Max Weber, Werner Sombart, and Achille Loria. Politically, he transitioned from the Social Democratic Party of Germany to the Italian Socialist Party, endorsing the Italian revolutionary syndicalist group and later Italian fascism. His ideas provided the basis of moderation theory, which specifies the processes by which radical political groups are incorporated into an existing political system.