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Congressional support for unions’ positions across diverse legislation

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Abstract

Organized labor has become increasingly active in national politics. This development has encouraged research into union political activities, particularly in the area of legislative politics. But little research has been published on the basis of congressional support for union positions on diverse public policy items. This paper has examined the correlates of congressional support for unions’ positions across 33 roll-call votes taken in the first session of the 98th Congress. Empirical analyses suggest that certain factors, such as legislators’ party affiliation and constituents’ ideology, are consistent correlates of such support across diverse legislation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Pittsburgh, 15260, Pittsburgh, PA

    Marick F. Masters

  2. Texas A & M University, 77843, College Station, TX

    Asghar Zardkoohi

Authors
  1. Marick F. Masters
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  2. Asghar Zardkoohi
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Additional information

The authors wish to thank John Delaney and Jack Fiorito for their generous comments on a previous version of the paper. They also wish to thank the union lobbyists who granted interviews. A Faculty Research Grant from the Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh, provided partial support.

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Masters, M.F., Zardkoohi, A. Congressional support for unions’ positions across diverse legislation. Journal of Labor Research 9, 149–165 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02685238

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