This work has been declared by the AHA board as historic, and is superseded by Humanist Manifesto III. The Manifesto is a product of many minds. It was designed to represent a developing point of view, not a new creed.
Re: the iron law of oligarchy Aug22-09, 10:47 PM JRDunassigned: The iron law of oligarchy is a political theory, first developed by the German syndicalist sociologist Robert Michels in his 1911 book, Political Parties. This is actually wrong.
The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism. The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism, by the character Emmanuel Goldstein, is the fictional book that is used as a thematic and plot element in the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), by George Orwell.