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All about the money? A cross-national study of parties' relations with trade unions in 12 western democracies

Haugsgjerd Allern, Elin ; Wøien Hansen, Vibeke ; Otjes, Simon ; Rasmussen, Anne ; Røed, Maiken LU and Bale, Tim (2021) In Party Politics 27(3). p.407-417
Abstract
This article examines political parties’ approach to trade unions and the role of private and public party finance in contemporary democracies. We suggest that both unions’ direct donations and states’ party finance regimes may account for variation in the strength of parties’ organizational links to unions. We investigate this argument with a new data set covering parties historically aligned with trade unions and union confederations in 12 mature democracies. Our empirical analysis provides support for the hypothesis that financial contributions are positively associated with stronger organizational links but also suggests that this relationship is constrained by the level of public subsidies and state regulation of donations. The... (More)
This article examines political parties’ approach to trade unions and the role of private and public party finance in contemporary democracies. We suggest that both unions’ direct donations and states’ party finance regimes may account for variation in the strength of parties’ organizational links to unions. We investigate this argument with a new data set covering parties historically aligned with trade unions and union confederations in 12 mature democracies. Our empirical analysis provides support for the hypothesis that financial contributions are positively associated with stronger organizational links but also suggests that this relationship is constrained by the level of public subsidies and state regulation of donations. The findings point to the need for more research on how private and public money affects parties’ interactions with civil society actors. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
donations, interest groups, parties, regulations, state funding, trade unions
in
Party Politics
volume
27
issue
3
pages
407 - 417
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • scopus:85070322237
ISSN
1460-3683
DOI
10.1177/1354068819862143
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
81983e1e-115b-4ac2-99cf-159aa98d6579
date added to LUP
2019-07-22 12:57:19
date last changed
2022-04-26 03:15:33
@article{81983e1e-115b-4ac2-99cf-159aa98d6579,
  abstract     = {{This article examines political parties’ approach to trade unions and the role of private and public party finance in contemporary democracies. We suggest that both unions’ direct donations and states’ party finance regimes may account for variation in the strength of parties’ organizational links to unions. We investigate this argument with a new data set covering parties historically aligned with trade unions and union confederations in 12 mature democracies. Our empirical analysis provides support for the hypothesis that financial contributions are positively associated with stronger organizational links but also suggests that this relationship is constrained by the level of public subsidies and state regulation of donations. The findings point to the need for more research on how private and public money affects parties’ interactions with civil society actors.}},
  author       = {{Haugsgjerd Allern, Elin and Wøien Hansen, Vibeke and Otjes, Simon and Rasmussen, Anne and Røed, Maiken and Bale, Tim}},
  issn         = {{1460-3683}},
  keywords     = {{donations; interest groups; parties; regulations; state funding; trade unions}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{407--417}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Party Politics}},
  title        = {{All about the money? A cross-national study of parties' relations with trade unions in 12 western democracies}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1354068819862143}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/1354068819862143}},
  volume       = {{27}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}