Radicalism or Reformism: The Sources of Working-class Politics

Abstract

From my work on my doctoral dissertation (Lipset 1950, 1968) down to the present, I have been interested in the problem of “American exceptionalism.” That curious phrase emerged from the debate in the international Communist movement in the 1920s concerning the sources of the weakness of left-wing radical movements in the United States (Draper 1960, pp. 268-72; Lipset 1977a, pp. 107-61). The key question repeatedly raised in this context has been, is America qualitatively different from other industrial capitalist countries? Or, to use Sombart's words, “Why is there no Socialism in the United States?” (Sombart 1976).In a forthcoming book, I evaluate the hypotheses advanced by various writers from Karl Marx onward to explain the absence of an effective socialist party on the American political scene. (For a preliminary formulation, see Lipset 1977b, pp. 31-149, 346-63.) If any of the hypotheses are valid, they should also help to account for the variation among working-class movements in other parts of the world. In this article, therefore, I shall reverse the emphasis from that in my book and look at socialist and working-class movements comparatively, applying elsewhere some of the propositions that have been advanced to explain the American situation.

Does Labor Matter? Institutions, Labor Unions and Pension Reform in France and the United States

“…Because of a highly asummetrical distribution of power between unions and the government, France never fully embraced a social-democratic or a (neo-)corporatist system (Jobert and Muller 1987;Keeler 1985). Unpowerful labor unions tend to oppose collaboration with strong governments (Marks 1989;Lipset 1983). In France, confrontation between government and labor unions rather than collaboration is the dominant path.…”

Friendships Moderate an Association Between a Dopamine Gene Variant and Political Ideology

“…While Marx focused particularly on class relations, Mannheim observed that political ideology is the product of the total social context of each individual. To understand a person's political ideology, we need only examine his or her political environment.Mannheim's work would influence several generations of scholars (e.g., Huntington 1957;Bell 1959;Rapoport 1974;North 1978;Lipset 1983;Jackman and Muha 1984;Haas 1992). While many of these scholars disagreed with parts of Mannheim's argument, they all agreed with the premise: that the social and institutional environment is paramount for explaining a person's political attitudes and beliefs.…”

Labor Unions, Political Representation, and Economic Inequality

“…This is not a new realization. Labor unions have long been viewed as one of the few vehicles through which working-and lowerclass citizens can wield some degree of political power (Lipset 1983). Unions figure prominently in major studies of American voter engagement and participation (Scholzman et al 2012).…”

“…These linkages vary and interact with electoral institutions in ways that can affect both the content and implementation of public policy. Where the extension of the franchise to the (male) working class predated industrialization, then unions generally developed independently of political parties (Lipset 1983). Before the Great Depression, the American labor movement maintained a studied distance from partisan politics.…”