Labour Politics in Small Open Democracies Australia, Chile, Ireland, New Zealand and Uruguay

by Buchanan, Paul G.; Nicholls, Kate

• ISBN13: 9780333981962
• ISBN10: 0333981960
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-09-17
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Paul G. Buchanan and Kate Nicholls explore the political and economic fortunes of organized labor in five small open democracies between 1975 and 2000. Of particular interest is the role of labor market institutions, organizational histories, and trade union ideologies in shaping outcomes under conditions of economic liberalization. The book includes a theoretical and methodological introduction, followed by individual discussions of Australia and Chile, and New Zealand and Uruguay, grouped a cross-regional pairs, and Ireland as an extra-regional and atypical case.

Author Biography

Paul G. Buchanan is Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Auckland.

Kate Nicholls is a PhD candidate at Notre Dame.

Table of Contents

List of Tables	ix
List of Figures	xi
Acknowledgements	xii
Preface	xv
1 Introduction: Methodological and Theoretical Issues	1	(24)
Small countries as exemplars of policy reform	1	(3)
Problems of analytic coupling: Case selection, dichotomous pairings and small sample comparisons	4	(3)
Labour politics as an analytic lens	7	(9)
Conceptualising unions as political actors: Organised labour and the labour relations regime	16	(7)
Summary	23	(2)
2 Australia and Chile	25	(64)
Introduction	25	(2)
Australia	27	(28)
Political insertion	31	(6)
Institutional conditioners	37	(6)
Agent-principal issues	43	(4)
Relations with business	47	(6)
Macroeconomic and social indicators	53	(2)
Summary	55	(1)
Chile	55	(32)
Political insertion	59	(13)
Institutional conditioners	72	(5)
Agent-principal issues	77	(3)
Relations with business	80	(5)
Macroeconomic and social indicators	85	(2)
Summary	87	(1)
Conclusion	87	(2)
3 New Zealand and Uruguay	89	(66)
Introduction	89	(1)
New Zealand	90	(28)
Political insertion	92	(4)
Institutional conditioners	96	(10)
Agent-principal issues	106	(5)
Relations with business	111	(4)
Macroeconomic and social indicators	115	(1)
Summary	116	(2)
Uruguay	118	(36)
Political insertion	119	(12)
Institutional conditioners	131	(6)
Agent-principal issues	137	(8)
Relations with business	145	(6)
Macroeconomic and social indicators	151	(1)
Summary	152	(2)
Conclusion	154	(1)
4 Ireland	155	(34)
Introduction	155	(2)
National, regional and global determinants of the Irish labour relations regime	157	(6)
Political insertion	163	(6)
Institutional conditioners	169	(6)
Agent-principal issues	175	(4)
Relations with business	179	(6)
Macroeconomic and social indicators	185	(2)
Conclusion	187	(2)
5 Conclusion: Explaining Cross National Variance in Labour Politics	189	(11)
Notes	200	(26)
Bibliography	226	(18)
Index	244