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The Significance of Trade Unions in the CEE Countries: Beyond Corporatism and Pluralism?

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Achieving Democracy Through Interest Representation

Part of the book series: Interest Groups, Advocacy and Democracy Series ((IGAD))

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Abstract

We start the chapter by comparing the relationship between trade unions and political parties in Central Eastern European and Western European Countries. We point to the fact that unions did not build the stable and long-term relationships with political parties as can be observed in the Western democracies. Through the combined analysis of the historical and symbolic background of the transition to a democratic civil society and free-market economy with the political preferences of the working class, trade union membership rates and public opinion polls we argue that the links between trade unions and political parties become even less stable with time. In particular, Polish trade unions never had a chance to become long-term intermediaries between society and political parties, making Poland an exception from the traditional models observed in other democracies. Almost the same is true for Lithuania. Despite the seemingly proactive and visible workings of many Lithuanian trade unions, they are still considered to be relatively weak and conformist. In Slovenia on the other hand trade unions, despite their declining membership, remain important and powerful actors in policy-making due to the neo-corporatist system. Consequently, we have to look into the replacement of traditional labour force representation in the democratic policy process.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Latest data for Lithuania: membership density in 2018 was 7.1%. No recent data for Slovenia and Poland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Aston University, Birmingham, UK

    Patrycja Rozbicka

  2. Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Political Studies, Warsaw, Poland

    Paweł Kamiński

  3. Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Meta Novak

  4. Faculty of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Kaunas University of Technology, Kaunas, Lithuania

    Vaida Jankauskaitė

Authors
  1. Patrycja Rozbicka
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  2. Paweł Kamiński
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  3. Meta Novak
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  4. Vaida Jankauskaitė
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Correspondence to Patrycja Rozbicka .

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Rozbicka, P., Kamiński, P., Novak, M., Jankauskaitė, V. (2021). The Significance of Trade Unions in the CEE Countries: Beyond Corporatism and Pluralism?. In: Achieving Democracy Through Interest Representation. Interest Groups, Advocacy and Democracy Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55521-4_6

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