Adolf Gasser (1903–1985) was a Swiss historian.

Education

Gasser completed his studies in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

and Zurich with doctorates in history and classical

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

Career

From 1928 to 1969 Gasser taught as a grammar school teacher in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

. In the course of Gasser's lectureships he became private lecturer in 1936 and an adjunct professor in 1942; from 1950 to 1985 he taught as an extraordinary professor for constitutional history at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Gasser started an active lecturing activity in the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...

. Gasser was joint founder of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, from 1953 to 1968 Gasser was a Liberal member of the Grand Council of Basel, and he was a president of the FDP of the canton Basel.

Works

His works include (published in German language, all titles are translated here for better understanding): – The territorial development of Switzerland. Confederation 1291–1797, 1932 – History of the People’s Freedom and Democracy, 1939 – Communal freedom as salvation of Europe, 1943 – On the foundations of the state, 1950 – ''Preussischer Militärgeist und Kriegsentfesselung 1914'', 1985

Refutation of Robert Michels' Iron Law of Oligarchy

In his book Political Parties, written in 1911,

Robert Michels Robert Michels (; 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 best know ...

argues that most representative systems deteriorate towards an oligarchy or particracy. This is known as the

iron law of oligarchy The iron law of oligarchy is a political theory first developed by the German-born Italian sociologist Robert Michels in his 1911 book ''Political Parties''.James L. Hyland. ''Democratic theory: the philosophical foundations''. Manchester, Engl ...

. In his book "Gemeindefreiheit als Rettung Europas" which was published in 1943 (first edition in German) and a second edition in 1947 (in German), Adolf Gasser stated the following requirements for a representative democracy in order to remain stable, unaffected by the 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gasser, Adolf 1903 births 1985 deaths 20th-century Swiss historians Swiss male writers University of Basel faculty 20th-century male writers