Gasser completed his studies in Heidelberg and Zurich with doctorates in history and classical philology.
From 1928 to 1969 Gasser taught as a grammar school teacher in Basel.
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.
His works include (published in German language, all titles are translated here for better understanding): In his book Political Parties, written in 1911, Robert Michels argues that most representative systems deteriorate towards an oligarchy or particracy.
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: