It is a pretty dismal assessment of the likelihood that a democratic institution can avoid becoming oligarchic (spoiler: Michels believed it was inevitably impossible as the institution grew in size and complexity, years later he abandoned his anarchist beliefs and became a fascist in Italy)
There are a few historical counter-examples to the Iron Law of Oligarchy, but I don't follow the details of Bitcoin closely enough to know whether it is resistant to the factors Robert Michels described.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_law_of_oligarchy
It is a pretty dismal assessment of the likelihood that a democratic institution can avoid becoming oligarchic (spoiler: Michels believed it was inevitably impossible as the institution grew in size and complexity, years later he abandoned his anarchist beliefs and became a fascist in Italy)
There are a few historical counter-examples to the Iron Law of Oligarchy, but I don't follow the details of Bitcoin closely enough to know whether it is resistant to the factors Robert Michels described.