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Democratic dilemmas: union democracy and union renewal

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  • Kim Voss

    (Professor of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, kimvoss@berkeley.edu)

Abstract

This article examines the academic debate over union democracy and compares it with recent research on union renewal in the United States. The juxtaposition reveals that revitalization in US unions has not happened in the ways assumed in the literature on union democracy. Rather than being largely a bottom-up process, revitalization has contained a strong element of centralism and coordination. I suggest that union democracy has too often been framed in singular terms, as only involving the curbing of the illegitimate accumulation of power by union leaders. Yet a key problem faced by unions today — how they might best aggregate the interests of diverse workers and represent new constituencies — is also fundamentally a democratic concern, one that can be addressed only by broadening our understanding of union democracy.

Suggested Citation

  • Kim Voss, 2010. "Democratic dilemmas: union democracy and union renewal," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 16(3), pages 369-382, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:treure:v:16:y:2010:i:3:p:369-382
    DOI: 10.1177/1024258910373868
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Clyde W. Summers, 2000. "From Industrial Democracy to Union Democracy," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 21(1), pages 3-14, January.
    2. Robert Hickey & Sarosh Kuruvilla & Tashlin Lakhani, 2010. "No Panacea for Success: Member Activism, Organizing and Union Renewal," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 48(1), pages 53-83, March.
    3. Paul Jarley & Jack Fiorito & John T. Delaney, 2000. "National Union Governance: An Empirically-Grounded Systems Approach," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 21(2), pages 227-246, April.
    4. Philip Taft, 1945. "Judicial Procedure in Labor Unions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 59(3), pages 370-385.
    5. Emanuel Stein, 1963. "The Dilemma of Union Democracy," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 350(1), pages 46-54, November.
    6. Bruce E. Kaufman, 2000. "The Early Institutionalists on Industrial Democracy and Union Democracy," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 21(2), pages 189-209, April.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Uwe Jirjahn, 2025. "Political Spillovers of Worker Representation: With or Without Workplace Democracy?," Research Papers in Economics 2025-02, University of Trier, Department of Economics.
    2. Linda Briskin, 2011. "The militancy of nurses and union renewal," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 17(4), pages 485-499, November.
    3. Magdalena Bernaciak & Aurora Trif, 2023. "Multiple strategies but small gains: Trade union revitalization and power resources in Central Eastern Europe after 2008," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 29(1), pages 83-102, March.
    4. Piotr Ostrowski, 2014. "Searching for equilibrium in labour relations before the EU accession: Developing grassroots trade unions in private companies in Poland," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 35(2), pages 205-223, May.
    5. Adrien Thomas, 2017. "Conglomerate Unions and Transformations of Union Democracy," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 55(3), pages 648-671, September.
    6. John Kallas, 2023. "Retooling militancy: Labour revitalization and fixed‐duration strikes," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(1), pages 68-88, March.
    7. Jane PARKER & Ozan ALAKAVUKLAR, 2023. "Union collective action, social movement unionism and worker freedom in New Zealand," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 162(1), pages 147-170, March.
    8. Phil James & Joanna Karmowska, 2012. "Unions and migrant workers: strategic challenges in Britain," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 18(2), pages 201-212, May.
    9. Cathy Brigden & Sarah Kaine, 2015. "Rethinking factional alliances and union renewal: Inter-union collaboration in the 21st century," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 36(2), pages 239-257, May.
    10. Maite Tapia & Christian L. Ibsen & Mark Strolle & Carla Lima Aranzaes & Philip S. DeOrtentiis, 2025. "A Tale of Two Locals: The Strategic Choice of a Trade Union during the 2019 GM–UAW Strike and Member Satisfaction," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 78(1), pages 123-154, January.

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