Title

Organized-labor In The Electorate, 1960-1988

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-1-1993

Publication Title

Political Research Quarterly

Department

Politics and Government

Abstract

This paper examines the union effect on vote choice and turnout in presidential elections from 1960 to 1988. It shows that union household status had a significant effect on vote choice in the last four presidential elections, including the widely reported debacle of 1984. Declining membership and other political-economic factors may explain organized labor's apparent political weakness, but these explanations have very different implications for our thinking about labor politics than the argument that leaders have diminishing impact on members' voting decisions. Surprisingly, union status does not have a significant impact on turnout; Verba, Nie, and Kim's ''group-based political mobilization'' hypothesis does not hold up well in the American context.

Volume

46

Issue

4

pp.

741-758

ISSN

1065-9129

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