Why Is There No Labor Party in the United States?

Zusatztext "In this volume, Archer poses the most novel and thought-provoking answer ventured in many years to one of American political history's most enduring questions. Archer takes an unusual approach to the subject, offering a comparative history of labor and politics in the United States and Australia as a means to tease out the key points that allowed Austrailians to form a labor party while Americans did not. The study is meticulous in its construction, and deeply informed on both the Australian and American contexts." ---Joseph A. McCartin, Journal of Social History Informationen zum Autor Robin Archer is director of the postgraduate program in political sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He was previously the fellow in politics at Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford. Klappentext Why is the United States the only advanced capitalist country with no labor party? This question is one of the great enduring puzzles of American political development, and it lies at the heart of a fundamental debate about the nature of American society. Tackling this debate head-on, Robin Archer puts forward a new explanation for why there is no American labor party--an explanation that suggests that much of the conventional wisdom about "American exceptionalism" is untenable. Conventional explanations rely on comparison with Europe. Archer challenges these explanations by comparing the United States with its most similar New World counterpart--Australia. This comparison is particularly revealing, not only because the United States and Australia share many fundamental historical, political, and social characteristics, but also because Australian unions established a labor party in the late nineteenth century, just when American unions, against a common backdrop of industrial defeat and depression, came closest to doing something similar. Archer examines each of the factors that could help explain the American outcome, and his systematic comparison yields unexpected conclusions. He argues that prosperity, democracy, liberalism, and racial hostility often promoted the very changes they are said to have obstructed. And he shows that it was not these characteristics that left the United States without a labor party, but, rather, the powerful impact of repression, religion, and political sectarianism. Zusammenfassung Why is the United States the only advanced capitalist country with no labor party? This title puts forward an explanation for why there is no American labor party - an explanation that suggests that much of the conventional wisdom about 'American exceptionalism' is untenable. Inhaltsverzeichnis List of Figures xi List of Tables xii List of Abbreviations xiii Acknowledgments xv Introduction 1 Labor-based Parties 3 Explaining by Comparing 6 Some Possible Objections 10 Historical Overview 13 Mutual Awareness 17 Chapter Summary 19 Chapter 1: Workers 23 Prosperity 23 Skilled and Unskilled Workers 31 The Effect of the New Unionism 36 Workers and Farmers 39 Conclusion 47 Chapter 2: Race 49 The Extent of Racial Hostility 50 The Effect in Australia 55 The Effect in the United States Compared 58 European Immigration 63 Conclusion 71 Chapter 3: Elections and the Constitution 73 Early Suffrage 73 The Electoral System 77 Multimember Districts 80 The Case of Illinois 82 Federalism 84 Presidentialism 86 Conclusion 91 Chapter 4: The Courts 93 The Court Repression Thesis 93 Labor Law and the Courts 95 Union Attitudes towards Politics 98 The Effect of Court Repression 102 Conclusion 110 Chapter 5: Repression 112 Two Theses on Repression 112 The Extent of Repression 113 Soldiers and Police 121 The Effect of Repression in Australia 124 The Effect in the United States Compared 127 The Effect in Illinois Compared 133 Complexities and Qualifications 139 Conclusion 14...

Autorentext

Robin Archer

Klappentext

Why is the United States the only advanced capitalist country with no labor party? This question is one of the great enduring puzzles of American political development, and it lies at the heart of a fundamental debate about the nature of American society. Tackling this debate head-on, Robin Archer puts forward a new explanation for why there is no American labor party--an explanation that suggests that much of the conventional wisdom about "American exceptionalism" is untenable. Conventional explanations rely on comparison with Europe. Archer challenges these explanations by comparing the United States with its most similar New World counterpart--Australia. This comparison is particularly revealing, not only because the United States and Australia share many fundamental historical, political, and social characteristics, but also because Australian unions established a labor party in the late nineteenth century, just when American unions, against a common backdrop of industrial defeat and depression, came closest to doing something similar. Archer examines each of the factors that could help explain the American outcome, and his systematic comparison yields unexpected conclusions. He argues that prosperity, democracy, liberalism, and racial hostility often promoted the very changes they are said to have obstructed. And he shows that it was not these characteristics that left the United States without a labor party, but, rather, the powerful impact of repression, religion, and political sectarianism.

Inhalt

List of Figures xi List of Tables xii List of Abbreviations xiii Acknowledgments xv Introduction 1 Labor-based Parties 3 Explaining by Comparing 6 Some Possible Objections 10 Historical Overview 13 Mutual Awareness 17 Chapter Summary 19 Chapter 1: Workers 23 Prosperity 23 Skilled and Unskilled Workers 31 The Effect of the New Unionism 36 Workers and Farmers 39 Conclusion 47 Chapter 2: Race 49 The Extent of Racial Hostility 50 The Effect in Australia 55 The Effect in the United States Compared 58 European Immigration 63 Conclusion 71 Chapter 3: Elections and the Constitution 73 Early Suffrage 73 The Electoral System 77 Multimember Districts 80 The Case of Illinois 82 Federalism 84 Presidentialism 86 Conclusion 91 Chapter 4: The Courts 93 The Court Repression Thesis 93 Labor Law and the Courts 95 Union Attitudes towards Politics 98 The Effect of Court Repression 102 Conclusion 110 Chapter 5: Repression 112 Two Theses on Repression 112 The Extent of Repression 113 Soldiers and Police 121 The Effect of Repression in Australia 124 The Effect in the United States Compared 127 The Effect in Illinois Compared 133 Complexities and Qualifications 139 Conclusion 141 Chapter 6: Liberalism 143 Social Egalitarianism 145 Labor Leaders in Australia 147 Labor Leaders in the United States 152 Were Their Claims Plausible? 155 Individual Freedom 160 Labor Leaders in Australia 160 Labor Leaders in the United States 164 Were Their Claims Plausible? 168 Conclusion 175 Chapter 7: Religion 177 The Extent of Religious Involvement 178 The Nature of Religious Beliefs 179 Protestant Clergy 182 Catholic Clergy 184 The Response of Labor Leaders to Clerical Hostility 187 Religion and the Party System 188 The Late 1880s and the Early 1890s 193 The Effect in the United States 197 The Effect in Australia Compared 200 Conclusion 204 Chapter 8: Socialism 207 Left-Wing Reform Ideologies 208 Labor Parties and Left-Wing Factionalism 214 Socialists and Unionists in the United States 219 Socialists and Unionists in Australia Compared 225 Conclusion 230 Conclusion 233 Negative Findings 233 Positive Findings 237 American Politics and Society 241 Appendix: Notes and Sources for the Tables 245 Notes 257 Bibliography 299 Index 337