Abstract
In a presidential election year that saw candidates spend record sums to show they can best represent middle class voters, data reveals politicians have become significantly wealthier than their middle class constituents. This paper proposes an initial model for understanding how unions facilitate and support economic non-elite political candidates, thereby helping to increase political pluralism. Drawing upon social identity theory, we argue that unions enable economic non-elites to develop political skill sets through experience in the traditional industrial relations process and access to union membership opportunities. We test this model through case study analysis and propose opportunities for further research.
Recommended Citation
Michael Wasser & J. R. Lamare,
Unions as Conduits of Democratic Voice for Non-Elites: Worker Politicization from the Shop Floor to the Halls of Congress,
14
Nev. L.J.
396
(2014).
Available at:
https://scholars.law.unlv.edu/nlj/vol14/iss2/7
Included in
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