Abstract
It has been assumed that organized labor’s political record has declined markedly since President Reagan was elected in 1980. This study shows this contention to be only partly true. While organized labor’s political influence has declined somewhat, particularly in the executive branch, there is considerable variation in the legislative agendas, objectives, and successes across a sample of eight major unions studied. This suggests that union legislative activity should be studied on a union-by-union basis.
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The authors are indebted to the many union lobbyists who agreed to be interviewed as a part of this study, and to Jack Fiorito, Donna Sockell, and an anonymous referee for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. This study was partially funded by a Columbia University Graduate School of Business Faculty Research Fellowship.
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Masters, M.F., Delaney, J.T. Union legislative records during president reagan’s first term. Journal of Labor Research 8, 1–18 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02685140
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02685140