20
QuizLong Text

The Structure of Formal Organizations

Question 20 • Sociology - EL1120

What is the iron law of oligarchy?

Answer

Answer:

In bureaucracies, power tends to concentrate in the hands of a few people at the top. These people then use their position to promote their own interests over the interests of the organization. Sociologist Robert Michels called this tendency of organizations to become increasingly dominated by small groups of people the iron law of oligarchy.