The Paradox of American Unionism: Why Americans Like Unions More Than Canadians Do, But Join Much Less - Hardcover

Seymour Martin Lipset; Noah Meltz; Rafael Gomez; Ivan Katchanovski

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0801442001 ISBN 13: 9780801442001

Publisher: ILR Press, 2004

Synopsis

Why have Americans, who by a clear majority approve of unions, been joining them in smaller numbers than ever before? This book answers that question by comparing the American experience with that of Canada, where approval for unions is significantly lower than in the United States, but where since the mid-1960s workers have joined organized labor to a much greater extent. Given that the two countries are outwardly so similar, what explains this paradox? This book provides a detailed comparative analysis of both countries using, among other things, a detailed survey conducted in the United States and Canada by the Ipsos-Reid polling group.

The authors explain that the relative reluctance of employees in the United States to join unions, compared with those in Canada, is rooted less in their attitudes toward unions than in the former country's deep-seated tradition of individualism and laissez-faire economic values. Canada has a more statist, social democratic tradition, which is in turn attributable to its Tory and European conservative lineage. Canadian values are therefore more supportive of unionism, making unions more powerful and thus, paradoxically, lowering public approval of unions. Public approval is higher in the United States, where unions exert less of an influence over politics and the economy.

About this title

About the Author:

The late Seymour Martin Lipset was Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University; Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; and Hazel Professor of Public Policy and Sociology Emeritus at George Mason University. His numerous books include American Exceptionalism and Continental Divide. The late Noah M. Meltz was Principal of Woodsworth College and Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto. Rafael Gomez is Lecturer at the London School of Economics and Research Fellow at the University of Toronto's Centre for Industrial Relations. Ivan Katchanovski is Kluge Post-Doctoral Fellow at the John W. Kluge Center, Library of Congress. Thomas A. Kochan is the George M. Bunker Professor of Management at MIT's Sloan School of Management. He is coeditor of Negotiations and Change and After Lean Production and coauthor with Saul A. Rubinstein of Learning from Saturn, all from Cornell.

Review:

"Bold in their hypotheses, prudent in marshalling empirical evidence, this book's authors illuminate the differences in labor and society between Canada and the United States. The Paradox of American Unionism contains wonderful analysis by two giants in the social sciences, Seymour Martin Lipset and Noah M. Meltz."

(Charles F. Doran, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of International Relations, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University)

"The greatest strength of The Paradox of American Unionism is the sophisticated survey, based on large samples in both countries, that it brings to bear on the question, Why has U.S. union density fallen so dramatically, relative to that in Canada? The results of this survey challenge much conventional wisdom, including arguments hitherto advanced by Seymour Martin Lipset himself. These results provoke a restatement of his national political culture argument that must be addressed by those who develop this work over the next years. As well, the authors have pulled together an enormous amount of relevant historical and comparative data that will help readers to develop their own positions."

(Ian Robinson, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor)

"This book is destined to be a classic in industrial relations. It addresses the puzzle of why unions declined so precipitously in the United States but were sustained in Canada in spite of the similarities between the two countries. Canada and the United States provide a natural laboratory for examining the divergent paths of such important outcomes."

(Morley Gunderson, CIBC Chair of Youth Employment, University of Toronto, Centre for Industrial Relations)

About this edition

• Publisher: ILR Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0801442001
• ISBN 13: 9780801442001
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240