Department of Sociology, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Br J Sociol. 2010 Jan;61 Suppl 1:29-42. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-4446.2009.01283.x.
Lipset's 'Democracy in Private Government' was a remarkable publication for three reasons. It was his first attempt to challenge Michels' 'iron law of oligarchy' and would lead to a programme of research that that would culminate with the publication of the widely admired classic study Union Democracy. Second, the inspiration for this work came from Lipset's student days when he was a socialist activist trying to understand why leftist governments often failed to carry out substantial programmes of social reform. Third, although it was one of his earliest publications it bears all the hallmarks of the work that would subsequently make Lipset a giant of political sociology: the enthusiasm for classic sociological problems; the appreciation of history; and the ingenious use of the small n comparative approach. Finally, I would argue that Lipset's study of democracy within private government represents a missed opportunity for sociology though there are signs that this is being rectified in recent years.
李普塞特的《私人政府中的民主》之所以重要，有三个原因。这是他首次尝试挑战米歇尔斯的“寡头铁律”，并由此开启了一个研究计划，最终促成了广受赞誉的经典研究作品《工会民主》的出版。其次，这项研究的灵感来源于李普塞特的学生时代，当时他是一名社会主义活动家，试图理解为什么左派政府常常无法实施实质性的社会改革计划。第三，尽管这是他最早的著作之一，但它具有使李普塞特成为政治社会学巨擘的后续作品的所有特征：对经典社会学问题的热情；对历史的欣赏；以及巧妙地运用小样本比较方法。最后，我认为李普塞特对私人政府中的民主的研究代表了社会学的一个错失的机会，但近年来有迹象表明这种情况正在得到纠正。
