Oligarchy, Decentralization, Devolution (Part 1 of 2)
It seems that every country is heading to be an Oligarchy and it seems that, like Adolph Gasser, a lot of people are suggesting Decentralization and/or Devolution as a solution (Fuelmich, Flynn etc). Localize.
Gasser’s book has not been published in English, it seems
What Is an Oligarchy?
• An oligarchy is a power structure under which a small group of elite individuals, families, or corporations control a country.
• The people who hold the power in an oligarchy are called “oligarchs” and are related by characteristics such as wealth, family, nobility, corporate interests, religion, politics, or military power.
• Oligarchies can control all forms of government, including constitutional democracies.
• The theoretical “iron law of oligarchy” holds that all political systems eventually evolve into oligarchies.
https://www.thoughtco.com/oligarchy-definition-4776084
Implications
The "iron law of oligarchy" states that all forms of organization, regardless of how democratic they may be at the start, will eventually and inevitably develop oligarchic tendencies, thus making true democracy practically and theoretically impossible, especially in large groups and complex organizations. The relative structural fluidity in a small-scale democracy succumbs to "social viscosity" in a large-scale organization. According to the "iron law", democracy and large-scale organization are incompatible.
Adolf Gasser's solution for Michels' iron law of oligarchy
In his book Gemeindefreiheit als Rettung Europas, published in 1943 (first edition in German) with a second edition in 1947 (in German), Adolf Gasser stated the following requirements for a representative democracy in order to remain stable, unaffected by Michels' iron law of oligarchy:
• Society has to be built up from bottom to top. As a consequence, society is built up by people, who are free and have the power to defend themselves with weapons.
• These free people join or form local communities. These local communities are independent, which includes financial independence, and they are free to determine their own rules.
• Local communities join together into a higher unit e.g. a canton.
• There is no hierarchical bureaucracy.
• There is competition between these local communities e.g. on services delivered or on taxes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_law_of_oligarchy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Gasser
Gemeindefreiheit = Municipal freedoms/liberties
Rettung = rescue/salvation
MICHELS’S IRON LAW OF OLIGARCHY
http://www.csun.edu/~hbsoc126/soc1/chapter%207%20supplement.pdf