Economic Inequality and Public Support for Organized Labor

2017 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 918-932 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin J. Newman ◽  
John V. Kane
Keyword(s):  
Labor Unions ◽  
Economic Inequality ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Organized Labor ◽  
Local Context ◽  
The Political ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Political Response ◽  
Do So

When exploring the political response of citizens to economic inequality, scholarship primarily focuses on support for left parties and demand for redistribution. This article expands upon this literature by exploring whether inequality generates public support for a known inequality-attenuating force in society—labor unions. In contrast to prior work, which largely focuses on national levels of inequality, we focus on the effect of citizens’ firsthand exposure to inequality in their local context. We theorize that residing in a context with visible income inequality should generate support for expanding the power of unions and should do so by augmenting the perceived exigency of unions in advocating for the working class. Using observational analysis of national survey data, reinforced with matching, placebo tests, and a survey experiment, we find strong support for our theoretical expectations.

scholarly journals What mode of environmental regulation do post-industrial societies prefer and why?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis Kolcava ◽  
Lukas Rudolph ◽  
Thomas Bernauer
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Environmental Regulation ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Green Economy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Survey Experiments ◽  
Post Industrial ◽  
Industrial Societies

Environmental policy is touching on ever more aspects of corporate and individual behavior, and there is much debate over what combinations of top-down (government-imposed) and bottom-up (voluntary private sector) measures to use. In post-industrial, democratic societies, citizens’ preferences over such combinations are crucial, because they shape the political feasibility space in which policymakers can act. We argue that policy-designs relying on voluntary measures receive more public support if they are based on inclusive decision-making, use strong transparency and monitoring mechanisms, and include a trigger for government intervention in case of ineffectiveness. Survey experiments focusing on two green economy issues in Switzerland (N=1941) provide strong support for these arguments. The findings are surprisingly consistent across the two contexts. This suggests that our study design offers a useful template for research that explores politically feasible green economy policy designs for other issues and in other countries.

From Discourse to Action: An Analysis on Securitization Policies in Turkey

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarp Kurgan
Keyword(s):  
Public Support ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Military Coup ◽  
The Political ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
General Elections ◽  
Identity Based ◽  
Turkish Case ◽  
Political Turmoil ◽  
Shed Light

AbstractThis article analyzes the results of two general elections in Turkey, June and November 2015, in light of the securitization policies applied by theAKPgovernment. The aim is to shed light on the reasons forAKP’s recovery between the two elections, despite ongoing economic, social, and political problems. The article explainsAKP’s grip on a strong support base through three interdependent reasons—the specter of the 1980 military coup, identity-based voting preferences, and successfully implemented securitization policies of theAKP. The first two reasons best explain the election successes of theAKPfrom 2002 to 2013, among other factors. In addition, these two factors constitute the political context in which theAKPmanaged to build an authoritarian regime.AKP’s implementation of securitization policies, on the other hand, is more adequate in explaining post-2013 policies and electoral successes, especially its recovery from June to November 2015. In addition, this article also aims to provide insights, based on the Turkish case, on how authoritarian governments manage to gather and secure public support, despite economic, social, and political turmoil and when and how securitization policies might fail and succeed.

Organized Labor as the New Undeserving Rich?: Mass Media, Class-Based Anti-Union Rhetoric and Public Support for Unions in the United States

2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 997-1026 ◽  
Author(s):  
John V. Kane ◽  
Benjamin J. Newman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Labor Unions ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The United States ◽  
Organized Labor ◽  
Perceived Similarity ◽  
Non Union ◽  
Survey Experiments ◽  
Worker Identity

Labor unions play a prominent role in the economy and in politics, and have long been depicted by opponents as an overly powerful, corrupt and economically harmful institution. In labor-related news in recent years, anti-union rhetoric has regularly focused on union workers themselves, frequently portraying them as overpaid, greedy and undeserving of their wealth, while also drawing a contrast between the compensation of union vs. non-union workers. This type of rhetoric is referred to here as class-based anti-union rhetoric (CAR). Despite its prevalence, it remains unknown whether CAR affects public opinion toward unions. This study uses a series of national survey experiments to demonstrate that exposure to CAR reduces the perceived similarity of targeted union workers, unions’ perceived deservingness of public support and support for pro-union legislation. Moreover, CAR repeatedly nullified or reversed the otherwise positive relationship between the strength of worker identity and solidarity with union workers.

Dumpster Diving for a Better World

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 49-82
Author(s):  
Benedikt Jahnke ◽  
Ulf Liebe
Keyword(s):  
Survey Research ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Factorial Survey ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Empirical Methods ◽  
Mixed Methods Design ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Food Activism ◽  
Dumpster Diving

Food waste is a major challenge in affluent societies around the globe. Based on theories of protest and a mixed methods design combining qualitative, experimental, and survey research, we study the motives for, frequency of, and public support for dumpster diving in Germany. We find that dumpster diving as an unconventional daily protest action is related to more general protest against capitalist societies. It is motivated by both altruistic and egoistic concerns. The perceived legitimacy of violence and self-identity explain the frequency of dumpster diving. A factorial survey experiment with activists and the general public reveals strong similarities between the views of activists and those of other citizens in strong support of dumpster diving. This study demonstrates the usefulness of combining different empirical methods to study food activism.

How Sanctions Affect Public Opinion in Target Countries: Experimental Evidence From Israel

2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (14) ◽  
pp. 1823-1857 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Grossman ◽  
Devorah Manekin ◽  
Yotam Margalit
Keyword(s):  
Public Support ◽  
Economic Sanctions ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
The Political ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Policy Debate ◽  
Differential Impact ◽  
The West ◽  
Political Effects

How do economic sanctions affect the political attitudes of individuals in targeted countries? Do they reduce or increase support for policy change? Are targeted, “smart” sanctions more effective in generating public support? Despite the importance of these questions for understanding the effectiveness of sanctions, they have received little systematic attention. We address them drawing on original data from Israel, where the threat of economic sanctions has sparked a contentious policy debate. We first examine the political effects of the European Union’s (EU) 2015 decision to label goods produced in the West Bank, and then expand our analysis by employing a survey experiment that allows us to test the differential impact of sanction type and sender identity. We find that the EU’s decision produced a backlash effect, increasing support for hardline policies and raising hostility toward Europe. Our findings further reveal that individuals are likely to support concessions only in the most extreme and unlikely of circumstances—a comprehensive boycott imposed by a sender perceived as a key strategic ally. These results offer theoretical and policy implications for the study of the effects of economic sanctions.

Referendum konstytucyjne we Włoszech. Jak głosowanie ludowe wpływa na system polityczny państwa?

2017 ◽  
pp. 110-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Kużelewska
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

This article analyses the impact of constitutional referendums on the political system in Italy. There were three constitutional referendums conducted in 2001, 2006 and 2016. All of them have been organised by the ruling parties, however, only the first one was successful. In the subsequent referendums, the proposals for amending the constitution have been rejected by voters. The article finds that lack of public support for the government resulted in voting „no” in the referendum.

Denmark-Norway as a Potential World Power in the Early Seventeenth Century

Itinerario ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Már Jónsson
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
The Political ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
Huge Amount ◽  
Northern Germany ◽  
Lower Saxony ◽  
One Year ◽  
Council Of State ◽  
Standing Army ◽  
Do So

On 2 January 1625, the English ambassador Robert Anstruther met with King Christian IV of Norway and Denmark and requested his participation in a union of Protestant states against Emperor Ferdinand II and the Catholic League in Germany. Within three days, King Christian proposed to contribute five thousand soldiers for one year, as part of an army of almost thirty thousand men. In early June, despite opposition from the Danish Council of State, reluctant to put a huge amount of money into foreign affairs, Christian decided to join what he called “the war for the defence of Lower Saxony”. He then headed an army of mercenaries southwards through Lower Saxony, secured all crossings over the river Weser and prepared to confront the Catholic forces. On 29 November, it was decided that Denmark would be in charge of military operations in Northern Germany, whereas England and the United Provinces would provide a monthly subsidy. The political and military prospects for Denmark were excellent, to say the least. It had the fourth strongest navy in Europe (after Spain and the two new allies), and only a few years before the Danish warships had been described by a French observer as “merveilles de l'océan”. A small standing army of two regiments had recently been established and Denmark was the fourth European state to do so after France, Spain and the neighbouring Sweden.

Reevaluating the Role of Ideology in Chile

2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Giancarlo Visconti
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Current Crisis ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
Electoral Strategies ◽  
Crisis Of Representation

ABSTRACTVoters’ ideological stances have long been considered one of the most important factors for understanding electoral choices in Chile. In recent years, however, the literature has begun to call this premise into question, due to several changes in the Chilean political landscape: the current crisis of representation, the high programmatic congruence between the two main coalitions, the decline in the political relevance of the dictatorship, and the rise of nonprogrammatic electoral strategies. In addition to these transformations, Chile switched to voluntary voting in 2012. This article studies whether ideology still informs electoral choices in Chile in an era of voluntary voting. It implements a conjoint survey experiment in low-to-middle-income neighborhoods in Santiago, where voters would be expected to be less ideological. It shows that candidates’ ideological labels are crucial for understanding the electoral decisions of a large part of the sample, particularly among likely voters.

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