Trade Unions and Democracy explores the role of trade unions as
products of, and agents for, democracy. As civil society agents,
unions may promote democracy within the wider society, especially
in the case of authoritarian regimes or other rigid political
systems, by acting as watchdogs and protecting hard-won democratic
gains.Established democratic institutions in many advanced
societies are facing new challenges. The problem with using trade
unions for this purpose is that they remain locked in a cycle of
political marginalization and decline. Beyond this, there are,
ironically, serious questions about whether unions themselves
internally function as democracies. Certainly there are tensions
between rank and file membership and an authoritarian leadership,
with this infighting having possible effects on strategic deals or
alliances and member accountability and actions. On the other hand,
trade unions continue to represent a significant component of
society within most industrialized countries, and in many case,
they have a demonstrated capacity for working with other elements
of civil society. Looking forward, trade unions may be able to play
a vital role in channeling and focusing spontaneous popular
upsurges. In the process, they may revitalize themselves through
use of greater internal democracy and become geared toward more
diverse constituencies. The question is, will they fulfill this
promise or continue to suffer from internal breakups and external
breakdowns? Can trade unions save themselves and democracy, or will
both deteriorate in time?Trade Unions and Democracy brings together
a distinguished panel of leading and emerging scholars in the field
and provides a critical assessment of the current role of trade
unions in society. It explores their capacity to affect political
policies to ensure greater accountability and fairness. It also
explores the nature of and extent to which internal representative
democracy actually operates within trade unions themselves.Mark
Harcourt is a professor in the Department of Strategic Management
and Leadership at Waikato University in New Zealand.
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