The term "oligarchy" has lost most of its analytical usefulness in Political Science, in virtue of how loosely it has been employed, becoming more of a subjectively-applied label than a conceptual tool for empirical research and theoretical reflection. This article revisits Robert Michels' major contribution in search of greater conceptual clarity and usefulness for empirical research. Through Michel's concept we are able to suggest a model of institutional analysis that enables us to identify and explain processes of oligarchization of specific social and political organizations, understanding their institutional logic in such a way as to understand how organized collective life frequently operates in ways that run against the grain of the legitimation that particular collectivities bound to the oligarchy consider valid.
Oligarchy; Oligarchization; Robert Michels; Political Organizations; Political Representation