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The minimal effects of union membership on political attitudes

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  • Yan, Alan Nigel

    (UC Berkeley)

Abstract

Union membership has been long believed to liberalize a range of political attitudes from partisanship to racial prejudice. This paper considers the theoretical preconditions necessary for such influence and argues that it is unlikely. Union members may not receive, may ignore, and may deprioritize their union's message compared to other considerations. Previous research faced empirical challenges with causal inference, limited sample sizes, and limited outcomes. I collect 12 panel surveys from 1956 to 2020 with 20,392 respondents and use advances in difference-in-differences designs to evaluate whether union membership causes political, economic, and racial attitudes to liberalize across 59 outcomes. I find that gaining union membership has no meaningful immediate or medium-term persuasive effects. I also show that a prominent previous liberalizing result was fragile. These results suggest a reconsideration of the role of labor unions in political behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Yan, Alan Nigel, 2023. "The minimal effects of union membership on political attitudes," SocArXiv zabrq, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:zabrq
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/zabrq
    as

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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alex Bryson & Michael White, 2016. "Unions and the economic basis of attitudes," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(4), pages 360-378, July.
    2. David Macdonald, 2019. "Labor Unions and Support for Redistribution in an Era of Inequality," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 100(4), pages 1197-1214, June.
    3. Ahlquist, John S. & Clayton, Amanda B. & Levi, Margaret, 2014. "Provoking Preferences: Unionization, Trade Policy, and the ILWU Puzzle," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 68(1), pages 33-75, January.
    4. Sung Eun Kim & Yotam Margalit, 2017. "Informed Preferences? The Impact of Unions on Workers' Policy Views," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 61(3), pages 728-743, July.
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