The authors investigate whether, as commonly believed, union members and their families strongly support the political candidates endorsed by union leaders. Using 1978 data on U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, and gubernatorial races, they find that union members, and to a lesser extent the nonmembers in their families, were more likely to vote for candidates endorsed by the AFL-CIO's Committee on Political Education (COPE) than were individuals who did not belong to a union and lived in households containing no union members. The authors suggest several alternative explanations for this pattern of voting behavior and discuss the implications of their results for unions' political strategy.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AbramsonPaul R., and ClaggettWilliam. 1984. “Race-Related Differences in Self-Reported and Validated Turnout.”Journal of Politics, Vol. 46, No. 3 (August), pp. 719–38.
2.
AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education. 1978. “Candidates, 1978 General Election.” Unpublished mimeo.
3.
AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education. 1976. “Memo from COPE.” Nov. 22.
AxelrodRobert. 1982. “Communication.”American Political Science Review, Vol. 76, No. 2 (June), pp. 393–96.
8.
AxelrodRobert. 1972. “Where the Votes Come From: An Analysis of Electoral Coalitions, 1952–1968.”American Political Science Review, Vol. 66, No. 1 (March), pp. 11–20.
9.
BlumeNorman. 1973. “Control and Satisfaction and Their Relations to Rank-and-File Support for Political Action.”Western Political Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 1 (March), pp. 51–63.
10.
BlumeNorman. 1970. “The Impact of a Local Union on Its Membership in a Local Election.”Western Political Quarterly, Vol. 23, No. 1 (March), pp. 138–50.
11.
BokDerek C., and DunlopJohn T.. 1970. Labor and the American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster.
12.
CampbellAngusConversePhilip E.MillerWarren E., and StokesDonald E.. 1980. The American Voter. New York: Wiley, 1960. University of Chicago Press Edition.
13.
CookStephen L.1978. “AFL-CIO Local Central Body Political Activity—A Case Study.” In RehmusCharles M.McLaughlinDoris B., and NesbittFrederick H., eds., Labor and American Politics, Revised Edition.Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press, pp. 293–307.
14.
DelaneyJohn ThomasMastersMarick F., and SchwochauSusan. 1988. “Unionism and Voter Turnout.”Journal of Labor Research, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Summer), pp. 221–36.
15.
EnelowJames M., and HinichMelvin J.. 1984. The Spatial Theory of Voting. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
16.
FishbeinMartin, and AjzenIcek. 1975. Belief, Attitude, Intention and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley.
17.
FormWilliam. 1983. “Sociological Research and the American Working Class.”The Sociological Quarterly, Vol. 24, No. 2 (Spring), pp. 163–84.
18.
FormWilliam. 1982. “Self-Employed Manual Workers: Petty Bourgeois or Working Class?”Social Forces, Vol. 60, No. 4 (June), pp. 1050–69.
19.
FreemanRichard B., and MedoffJames L.. 1984. What Do Unions Do?New York: Basic Books.
20.
GilensMartin. 1988. “Gender and Support for Reagan: A Comprehensive Model of Presidential Approval.”American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 32, No. 1 (February), pp. 19–49.
21.
GreenstoneJ. David. 1977. Labor in American Politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
22.
HamiltonRichard F.1972. Class and Politics in the United States. New York: Wiley & Sons.
23.
HarwoodEdwin. 1981. “Comment.”Journal of Labor Research, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Fall), pp. 299–305.
24.
HeldmanDan C., and KnightDeborah L.. 1980. Unions and Lobbying: The Representation Function. Arlington, Va.: Foundation for the Advancement of the Public Trust.
25.
HudsonRuth Alice, and RosenHjalmar. 1954. “Union Political Action: The Member Speaks.”Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 7, No. 3 (April), pp. 404–18.
26.
JuravichTom, and ShergoldPeter R.. 1988. “The Impact of Unions on the Voting Behavior of Their Members.”Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 41, No. 3 (April), pp. 374–85.
27.
MastersMarick F., and DelaneyJohn Thomas. 1987a. “Contemporary Labor Political Investments and Performance.”Labor Studies Journal, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Winter), pp. 220–37.
28.
MastersMarick F., and DelaneyJohn Thomas. 1987b. “Union Political Activities: A Review of the Empirical Literature.”Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 40, No. 3 (April), pp. 336–53.
29.
MastersMarick F., and ZardkoohiAsghar. 1986. “The Determinants of Labor PAC Allocations to Legislators.”Industrial Relations, Vol. 25, No. 3 (Fall), pp. 328–38.
30.
MastersNicholas A.1957. “The Politics of Union Endorsement of Candidates in the Detroit Area.”The Midwest Journal of Political Science, Vol. 1, No. 2 (August), pp. 136–50.
31.
NesbittFrederick H.1978. “Labor Endorsement of a Republican Senator: A Case Study.” In RehmusCharles M.McLaughlinDoris B., and NesbittFrederick H., eds., Labor and American Politics, Revised Edition.Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press, pp. 409–20.
32.
PattonDavid B., and MarroneJohn J.. 1984. “The Impact of Labor Endorsements: Union Members and the 1980 Presidential Vote.”Labor Studies Journal, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Spring), pp. 3–18.
33.
PattonDavid B.MarroneJohn J., and HindmanHugh D.. 1986. “Unions and Politics: 1984 and Beyond.” In Industrial Relations Research Association, Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual Meeting.Madison, Wis.: IRRA, pp. 490–94.
34.
PellingHenry. 1960. American Labor. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
35.
RaJong Oh.1978. Labor at the Polls: Union Voting in Presidential Elections, 1952–1976. Amherst, Mass.: University of Massachusetts Press.
36.
RehmusCharles M.McLaughlinDoris B., and NesbittFrederick H., eds. 1978. Labor and American Politics, Revised Edition.Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press.
37.
ScobleHarry M.1963. “Organized Labor in Electoral Politics: Some Questions for the Discipline.”Western Political Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 3 (September), pp. 666–86.
38.
SheppardHarold, and MastersNicholas A.. 1959. “The Political Attitudes and Preferences of Union Members: The Case of the Detroit Auto Workers.”American Political Science Review, Vol. 53, No. 2 (January), pp. 437–47.
39.
SheppardHarold, and MastersNicholas A.. 1957. “Union Political Action and Public Opinion Polls in a Democratic Society.”Social Problems, Vol. 5 (July), pp. 14–20.
40.
StetsonDamon. 1978. “Labor Power in the Elections.” In RehmusCharles M.McLaughlinDoris B., and NesbittFrederick H., eds., Labor and American Politics, Revised Edition.Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press, pp. 347–51.
41.
WolfeArthur. 1969. “Trends in Labor Union Voting Behavior, 1948–1968.”Industrial Relations, Vol. 9, No. 1 (October), pp. 1–10.
