Democratization , or democratisation , is the structural government transition from an authoritarian government to a more democratic political regime , including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction.
115-616: The Northumberland Miners' Association was a trade union in the United Kingdom . The union was founded in 1864 to represent coal miners in Northumberland , following the collapse of a short-lived union covering both Northumberland and Durham miners. Originally named the Northumberland Miners' Mutual Confident Association , it aimed for respectability, requiring high subscriptions and avoiding strikes. It did not affiliate to
230-545: A general strike , which was soon crushed. Sympathy for the plight of the workers brought repeal of the acts in 1824, although the Combination Act 1825 restricted their activity to bargaining for wage increases and changes in working hours. By the 1810s, the first labour organizations to bring together workers of divergent occupations were formed. Possibly the first such union was the General Union of Trades, also known as
345-522: A ship charterer and a shipmaster. Law 276 stipulated a 2 1 ⁄ 2 -gerah per day freight rate on a contract of affreightment between a charterer and shipmaster, while Law 277 stipulated a 1 ⁄ 6 -shekel per day freight rate for a 60-gur vessel. In 1816, an archaeological excavation in Minya, Egypt (under an Eyalet of the Ottoman Empire) produced a Nerva–Antonine dynasty -era tablet from
460-588: A 2022 study in the American Political Science Review , Acemoglu and Robinson argue that the nature of the relationship between elites and society determine whether stable democracy emerges. When elites are overly dominant, despotic states emerge. When society is overly dominant, weak states emerge. When elites and society are evenly balance, inclusive states emerge. Research shows that oil wealth lowers levels of democracy and strengthens autocratic rule. According to Michael Ross, petroleum
575-482: A blend of these two philosophies, and the definitions of the models themselves are still debated. Informal workers often face unique challenges when trying to participate in trade union movements as formal trade union organizations recognized by the state and employers may not accommodate for the employment categories common in the informal economy. Simultaneously, the lack of regular work locations and loopholes relating to false self-employment add barriers and costs for
690-460: A commonly held mistaken view holds modern trade unionism to be a product of Marxism , the earliest modern trade unions predate Marx's Communist Manifesto (1848) by almost a century (and Marx's writings themselves frequently address the prior existence of the workers' movements of his time.) The first recorded labour strike in the United States was by Philadelphia printers in 1786, who opposed
805-417: A country goes to a war or whether its economy grows. The opposite process is known as democratic backsliding or autocratization. Theories of democratization seek to explain a large macro-level change of a political regime from authoritarianism to democracy. Symptoms of democratization include reform of the electoral system , increased suffrage and reduced political apathy . Democracy indices enable
920-688: A country, especially in case of trade with other democracies. A 2020 study found increased trade between democracies reduces democratic backsliding , while trade between democracies and autocracies reduces democratization of the autocracies. Trade and capital mobility often involve international organizations, such as the International Money Fund (IMF), World Bank , and World Trade Organization (WTO), which can condition financial assistance or trade agreements on democratic reforms. Sociologist Barrington Moore Jr. , in his influential Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy (1966), argues that
1035-476: A cross-section of workers from various trades ( general unionism ), or an attempt to organize all workers within a particular industry ( industrial unionism ). The agreements negotiated by a union are binding on the rank-and-file members and the employer, and in some cases on other non-member workers. Trade unions traditionally have a constitution which details the governance of their bargaining unit and also have governance at various levels of government depending on
1150-558: A federation of different unions that did not directly enrol workers. In 1886, it became known as the American Federation of Labor or AFL. In Germany, the Free Association of German Trade Unions was formed in 1897 after the conservative Anti-Socialist Laws of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck were repealed. In France, labour organisation was illegal until the 1884 Waldeck Rousseau laws . The Fédération des bourses du travail
1265-425: A government may be more likely to democratize. James C. Scott argues that governments may find it difficult to claim a sovereignty over a population when that population is in motion. Scott additionally asserts that exit may not solely include physical exit from the territory of a coercive state, but can include a number of adaptive responses to coercion that make it more difficult for states to claim sovereignty over
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#17330855228651380-625: A link between economics and politics that is not conditional on institutions and culture and that presumes a definite endpoint—for example, an 'end of history'." A meta-analysis by Gerardo L. Munck of research on Lipset's argument shows that a majority of studies do not support the thesis that higher levels of economic development leads to more democracy. A 2024 study linked industrialization to democratization, arguing that large-scale employment in manufacturing made mass mobilization easier to occur and harder to repress. Theories on causes to democratization such as economic development focus rather on
1495-797: A majority of the males get the vote. In September 1847, violent riots inspired by Liberals broke out in Reggio Calabria and in Messina in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies , which were put down by the military. On 12 January 1848 a rising in Palermo spread throughout the island and served as a spark for the Revolutions of 1848 all over Europe. After similar revolutionary outbursts in Salerno , south of Naples , and in
1610-722: A number of occasions and the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) endorsed Ronald Reagan in 1980. In the United Kingdom trade union movement's relationship with the Labour Party frayed as party leadership embarked on privatization plans at odds with what unions see as the worker's interests. However, it has strengthened once more after the Labour party's election of Ed Miliband , who beat his brother David Miliband to become leader of
1725-593: A part in the protests after the Tolpuddle Martyrs ' case, but soon collapsed. More permanent trade unions were established from the 1850s, better resourced but often less radical. The London Trades Council was founded in 1860, and the Sheffield Outrages spurred the establishment of the Trades Union Congress in 1868, the first long-lived national trade union center . By this time, the existence and
1840-592: A period of crisis and turmoil, the Italian fascist dictatorship was established. During World War II , Italy was first part of the Axis until it surrendered to the Allied powers (1940–1943) and then, as part of its territory was occupied by Nazi Germany with fascist collaboration , a co-belligerent of the Allies during the Italian resistance and the subsequent Italian Civil War , and
1955-633: A political party intended to represent the interests of the working class. Typically, this is a left-wing , socialist , or social democratic party, but many exceptions exist, including some of the aforementioned Christian unions. In the United States, trade unions are almost always aligned with the Democratic Party with a few exceptions. For example, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has supported Republican Party candidates on
2070-401: A population. These responses can include planting crops that are more difficult for states to count, or tending livestock that are more mobile. In fact, the entire political arrangement of a state is a result of individuals adapting to the environment, and making a choice as to whether or not to stay in a territory. If people are free to move, then the exit, voice, and loyalty model predicts that
2185-541: A relatively strong federal national government that included an executive , a national judiciary , and a bicameral Congress that represented states in the Senate and the population in the House of Representatives . In many fields, it was a success ideologically in the sense that a true republic was established that never had a single dictator, but voting rights were initially restricted to white male property owners (about 6% of
2300-475: A similar national presence with the National Union of Cotton-spinners. The Association quickly enrolled approximately 150 unions, consisting mostly of textile related unions , but also including mechanics, blacksmiths, and various others. Membership rose to between 10,000 and 20,000 individuals spread across the five counties of Lancashire , Cheshire , Derbyshire , Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire within
2415-495: A state will have to be of that population representative, and appease the populace in order to prevent them from leaving. If individuals have plausible exit options then they are better able to constrain a government's arbitrary behaviour through threat of exit. Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson argued that the relationship between social equality and democratic transition is complicated: People have less incentive to revolt in an egalitarian society (for example, Singapore ), so
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#17330855228652530-624: A strong Parliament that passed the Bill of Rights 1689 , which codified certain rights and liberties for individuals. It set out the requirement for regular parliaments, free elections, rules for freedom of speech in Parliament and limited the power of the monarch, ensuring that, unlike much of the rest of Europe, royal absolutism would not prevail. Only with the Representation of the People Act 1884 did
2645-490: A wage reduction and demanded $ 6 per week in wages. The origins of modern trade unions can be traced back to 18th-century Britain, where the Industrial Revolution drew masses of people, including dependents , peasants and immigrants, into cities. Britain had ended the practice of serfdom in 1574, but the vast majority of people remained as tenant-farmers on estates owned by the landed aristocracy . This transition
2760-458: A way to democratize the workplace, in order to obtain political power. A modern definition by the Australian Bureau of Statistics states that a trade union is "an organisation consisting predominantly of employees, the principal activities of which include the negotiation of rates of pay and conditions of employment for its members". Recent historical research by Bob James puts forward
2875-721: A wide franchise. The French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars lasted for more than twenty years. The French Directory was more oligarchic. The First French Empire and the Bourbon Restoration restored more autocratic rule. The French Second Republic had universal male suffrage but was followed by the Second French Empire . The Franco-Prussian War (1870–71) resulted in the French Third Republic . Germany established its first democracy in 1919 with
2990-508: A written democratic constitution , resulting from the work of a Constituent Assembly formed by the representatives of all the anti-fascist forces that contributed to the defeat of Nazi and Fascist forces during the liberation of Italy and the Italian Civil War , and coming into force on 1 January 1948. In Japan , limited democratic reforms were introduced during the Meiji period (when
3105-601: A year. To establish awareness and legitimacy, the union started the weekly Voice of the People publication, having the declared intention "to unite the productive classes of the community in one common bond of union." In 1834, the Welsh socialist Robert Owen established the Grand National Consolidated Trades Union . The organization attracted a range of socialists from Owenites to revolutionaries and played
3220-537: Is because development may entrench the incumbent leader but make it more difficult for him deliver the state to a son or trusted aide when he exits. However, the debate about whether democracy is a consequence of wealth, a cause of it, or both processes are unrelated, is far from conclusive. Another study suggests that economic development depends on the political stability of a country to promote democracy. Clark, Robert and Golder, in their reformulation of Albert Hirschman's model of Exit, Voice and Loyalty , explain how it
3335-482: Is globalization, which makes it harder for unions to maintain standards across countries. The last reason is governmental policies. These come from both sides of the political spectrum. In the UK and US, it has been mostly right-wing proposals that make it harder for unions to form or that limit their power. On the other side, there are many social policies such as minimum wage , paid vacation , parental leave, etc., that decrease
3450-497: Is highest in the Nordic countries . Since the publication of the History of Trade Unionism (1894) by Sidney and Beatrice Webb , the predominant historical view is that a trade union "is a continuous association of wage earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment". Karl Marx described trade unions thus: "The value of labour-power constitutes
3565-531: Is in this context that modern trade unions emerge. In the cities, trade unions encountered much hostility from employers and government groups. In the United States, unions and unionists were regularly prosecuted under various restraint of trade and conspiracy laws, such as the Sherman Antitrust Act . This pool of unskilled and semi-skilled labour spontaneously organized in fits and starts throughout its beginnings, and would later be an important arena for
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3680-403: Is insufficient evidence to conclude that development causes democratization (turning an authoritarian state into a democracy). Economic development can boost public support for authoritarian regimes in the short-to-medium term. Andrew J. Nathan argues that China is a problematic case for the thesis that economic development causes democratization. Michael Miller finds that development increases
3795-408: Is not the increase of wealth in a country per se which influences a democratization process, but rather the changes in the socio-economic structures that come together with the increase of wealth. They explain how these structure changes have been called out to be one of the main reasons several European countries became democratic. When their socioeconomic structures shifted because modernization made
3910-483: Is supported by the far-right BNP . In Denmark, there are some newer apolitical "discount" unions who offer a very basic level of services, as opposed to the dominating Danish pattern of extensive services and organizing. In contrast, in several European countries (e.g. Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland ), religious unions have existed for decades. These unions typically distanced themselves from some of
4025-400: Is the sole resource that has "been consistently correlated with less democracy and worse institutions" and is the "key variable in the vast majority of the studies" identifying some type of resource curse effect. A 2014 meta-analysis confirms the negative impact of oil wealth on democratization. Thad Dunning proposes a plausible explanation for Ecuador's return to democracy that contradicts
4140-518: Is with the idea of waves of democratization A wave of democratization refers to a major surge of democracy in history. And Samuel P. Huntington identified three waves of democratization that have taken place in history. The first one brought democracy to Western Europe and Northern America in the 19th century. It was followed by a rise of dictatorships during the Interwar period . The second wave began after World War II , but lost steam between 1962 and
4255-510: The Combination Act was passed, which banned trade unions and collective bargaining by British workers. Although the unions were subject to often severe repression until 1824, they were already widespread in cities such as London . Workplace militancy had also manifested itself as Luddism and had been prominent in struggles such as the 1820 Rising in Scotland, in which 60,000 workers went on
4370-645: The Cilento region which were backed by the majority of the intelligentsia of the Kingdom, on 29 January 1848 King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies was forced to grant a constitution, using for a pattern the French Charter of 1830 . This constitution was quite advanced for its time in liberal democratic terms, as was the proposal of a unified Italian confederation of states. On 11 February 1848, Leopold II of Tuscany , first cousin of Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria , granted
4485-896: The European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms . It was stressed that Denmark and Iceland were among a limited number of contracting states that continue to permit the conclusion of closed-shop agreements. The academic literature shows substantial evidence that trade unions reduce economic inequality . The economist Joseph Stiglitz has asserted that, "Strong unions have helped to reduce inequality, whereas weaker unions have made it easier for CEOs , sometimes working with market forces that they have helped shape, to increase it." Evidence indicates that those who are not members of unions also see higher wages. Researchers suggest that unions set industrial norms as firms try to stop further unionization or losing workers to better-paying competitors. The decline in unionization since
4600-601: The International Trade Union Confederation . However, in Japan , union organisation is slightly different due to the presence of enterprise unions, i.e. unions that are specific to a plant or company. These enterprise unions, however, join industry-wide federations which in turn are members of Rengo , the Japanese national trade union confederation. In Western Europe , professional associations often carry out
4715-663: The International Transport Workers Federation , the International Federation of Journalists , the International Arts and Entertainment Alliance and Public Services International . Union law varies from country to country, as does the function of unions. For example, German and Dutch unions have played a greater role in management decisions through participation in supervisory boards and co-determination than other countries. Moreover, in
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4830-528: The OECD average of 35.9% in 1998 to 27.9% in the year 2018. The main reasons for these developments are a decline in manufacturing , increased globalization , and governmental policies. The decline in manufacturing is the most direct influence, as unions were historically beneficial and prevalent in the sector; for this reason, there may be an increase in developing nations as OECD nations continue to export manufacturing industries to these markets. The second reason
4945-612: The World Federation of Trade Unions created in 1945. The largest trade union federation in the world is the Brussels -based International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), created in 2006, which has approximately 309 affiliated organizations in 156 countries and territories, with a combined membership of 166 million. National and regional trade unions organizing in specific industry sectors or occupational groups also form global union federations , such as UNI Global , IndustriALL ,
5060-455: The history of democracy , enduring democracy advocates succeed almost always through peaceful means when there is a window of opportunity. One major type of opportunity include governments weakened after a violent shock. The other main avenue occurs when autocrats are not threatened by elections, and democratize while retaining power. The path to democracy can be long with setbacks along the way. The French Revolution (1789) briefly allowed
5175-531: The liberation of Italy (1943–1945). The aftermath of World War II left Italy also with an anger against the monarchy for its endorsement of the Fascist regime for the previous twenty years. These frustrations contributed to a revival of the Italian republican movement. Italy became a republic after the 1946 Italian institutional referendum held on 2 June, a day celebrated since as Festa della Repubblica . Italy has
5290-450: The lunar new year . Companies that employ workers with a union generally operate on one of several models: An EU case concerning Italy stated that, "The principle of trade union freedom in the Italian system implies recognition of the right of the individual not to belong to any trade union ("negative" freedom of association/trade union freedom), and the unlawfulness of discrimination liable to cause harm to non-unionized employees." In
5405-493: The mechanization of agriculture : as landed elites became less reliant on the repression of agricultural workers, they became less hostile to democracy. According to political scientist David Stasavage , representative government is "more likely to occur when a society is divided across multiple political cleavages." A 2021 study found that constitutions that emerge through pluralism (reflecting distinct segments of society) are more likely to induce liberal democracy (at least, in
5520-590: The unification of Italy in 1861, was a constitutional monarchy . The new kingdom was governed by a parliamentary constitutional monarchy dominated by liberals. The Italian Socialist Party increased in strength, challenging the traditional liberal and conservative establishment. From 1915 to 1918, the Kingdom of Italy took part in World War I on the side of the Entente and against the Central Powers . In 1922, following
5635-469: The workforce are usually made up of workplace volunteers who are often appointed by members through internal democratic elections. The trade union, through an elected leadership and bargaining committee, bargains with the employer on behalf of its members, known as the rank and file, and negotiates labour contracts (collective bargaining agreements) with employers. Unions may organize a particular section of skilled or unskilled workers ( craft unionism ),
5750-607: The 18th century to the Arab Spring (2011–2012), 13 democratic waves can be identified. The V-Dem Democracy Report identified for the year 2023 9 cases of stand-alone democratization in East Timor, The Gambia, Honduras, Fiji, Dominican Republic, Solomon Islands, Montenegro, Seychelles, and Kosovo and 9 cases of U-Turn Democratization in Thailand, Maldives, Tunisia, Bolivia, Zambia, Benin, North Macedonia, Lesotho, and Brazil. Throughout
5865-714: The 1960s in the United States has been associated with a pronounced rise in income and wealth inequality and, since 1967, with loss of middle class income. Right-to-work laws have been linked to greater economic inequality in the United States. Democratization Whether and to what extent democratization occurs can be influenced by various factors, including economic development, historical legacies, civil society, and international processes. Some accounts of democratization emphasize how elites drove democratization, whereas other accounts emphasize grassroots bottom-up processes. How democratization occurs has also been used to explain other political phenomena, such as whether
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#17330855228655980-484: The Constitution, with the general approval of his subjects. The Habsburg example was followed by Charles Albert of Sardinia ( Albertine Statute ; later became the constitution of the unified Kingdom of Italy and remained in force, with changes, until 1948 ) and by Pope Pius IX (Fundamental Statute). However, only King Charles Albert maintained the statute even after the end of the riots. The Kingdom of Italy , after
6095-600: The Philanthropic Society, founded in 1818 in Manchester . The latter name was to hide the organization's real purpose in a time when trade unions were still illegal. The first attempts at forming a national general union in the United Kingdom were made in the 1820s and 30s. The National Association for the Protection of Labour was established in 1830 by John Doherty , after an apparently unsuccessful attempt to create
6210-583: The Transition ' ) or la Transición española ( ' the Spanish Transition ' ), is a period of modern Spanish history encompassing the regime change that moved from the Francoist dictatorship to the consolidation of a parliamentary system , in the form of constitutional monarchy under Juan Carlos I . The American Revolution (1765–1783) created the United States. The new Constitution established
6325-681: The UK and the US ), a cross-section of workers from various trades ( general unionism , traditionally found in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Netherlands, the UK and the US), or attempt to organize all workers within a particular industry ( industrial unionism , found in Australia, Canada, Germany, Finland, Norway, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US). These unions are often divided into " locals ", and united in national federations . These federations themselves will affiliate with Internationals , such as
6440-545: The United Kingdom, previous to this EU jurisprudence, a series of laws introduced during the 1980s by Margaret Thatcher's government restricted closed and union shops. All agreements requiring a worker to join a union are now illegal. In the United States, the Taft–Hartley Act of 1947 outlawed the closed shop. In 2006, the European Court of Human Rights found Danish closed-shop agreements to be in breach of Article 11 of
6555-506: The United States, collective bargaining is most commonly undertaken by unions directly with employers, whereas in Austria, Denmark, Germany or Sweden, unions most often negotiate with employers associations , a form of sectoral bargaining . Concerning labour market regulation in the EU, Gold (1993) and Hall (1994) have identified three distinct systems of labour market regulation, which also influence
6670-400: The agriculture sector more efficient, bigger investments of time and resources were used for the manufacture and service sectors. In England, for example, members of the gentry began investing more in commercial activities that allowed them to become economically more important for the state. This new kind of productive activities came with new economic power were assets became more difficult for
6785-540: The artificial harbor Portus in Rome revealed inscriptions in a shipyard constructed during the reign of Trajan (98–117) indicating the existence of a shipbuilders guild. Rome's La Ostia port was home to a guildhall for a corpus naviculariorum , a collegium of merchant mariners. Collegium also included fraternities of Roman priests overseeing ritual sacrifices , practising augury , keeping scriptures, arranging festivals, and maintaining specific religious cults. While
6900-433: The aspect of gaining capital, capital mobility focuses on the movement of money and the across borders of countries and different financial instruments and the corresponding restrictions. Over the past decades they have been multiple theories as to what the relationship is between capital mobility and democratization. The “doomsway view” is that capital mobility is an inherent threat to underdeveloped democracies by worsening
7015-518: The conditions of their employment , such as attaining better wages and benefits , improving working conditions, improving safety standards, establishing complaint procedures, developing rules governing status of employees (rules governing promotions, just-cause conditions for termination) and protecting and increasing the bargaining power of workers. Trade unions typically fund their head office and legal team functions through regularly imposed fees called union dues . The union representatives in
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#17330855228657130-467: The conscious and explicit foundation of the trade unions, whose importance for the ... working class can scarcely be overestimated. The trade unions aim at nothing less than to prevent the reduction of wages below the level that is traditionally maintained in the various branches of industry. That is to say, they wish to prevent the price of labour-power from falling below its value" ( Capital V1, 1867, p. 1069). Early socialists also saw trade unions as
7245-435: The conventional wisdom that natural resource rents encourage authoritarian governments. Dunning proposes that there are situations where natural resource rents, such as those acquired through oil, reduce the risk of distributive or social policies to the elite because the state has other sources of revenue to finance this kind of policies that is not the elite wealth or income. And in countries plagued with high inequality, which
7360-416: The country's re-democratization. Ecuador's re-democratization can then be attributed, as argued by Dunning, to the large increase of oil rents, which enabled not only a surge in public spending but placated the fears of redistribution that had grappled the elite circles. The exploitation of Ecuador's resource rent enabled the government to implement price and wage policies that benefited citizens at no cost to
7475-629: The creation of the Weimar Republic , a parliamentary republic created following the German Empire 's defeat in World War I . The Weimar Republic lasted only 14 years before it collapsed and was replaced by Nazi dictatorship . Historians continue to debate the reasons why the Weimar Republic's attempt at democratization failed. After Germany was militarily defeated in World War II , democracy
7590-407: The demands of the trade unions were becoming accepted by liberal middle-class opinion. In Principles of Political Economy (1871) John Stuart Mill wrote: If it were possible for the working classes, by combining among themselves, to raise or keep up the general rate of wages, it needs hardly be said that this would be a thing not to be punished, but to be welcomed and rejoiced at. Unfortunately
7705-476: The development of trade unions. Trade unions have sometimes been seen as successors to the guilds of medieval Europe , though the relationship between the two is disputed, as the masters of the guilds employed workers (apprentices and journeymen) who were not allowed to organize. Trade unions and collective bargaining were outlawed from no later than the middle of the 14th century, when the Ordinance of Labourers
7820-412: The distribution of power among classes – the peasantry, the bourgeoise and the landed aristocracy – and the nature of alliances between classes determined whether democratic, authoritarian or communist revolutions occurred. Moore also argued there were at least "three routes to the modern world" – the liberal democratic, the fascist, and the communist – each deriving from the timing of industrialization and
7935-518: The doctrines of orthodox Marxism , such as the preference of atheism and from rhetoric suggesting that employees' interests always are in conflict with those of employers. Some of these Christian unions have had some ties to centrist or conservative political movements, and some do not regard strikes as acceptable political means for achieving employees' goals. In Poland , the biggest trade union Solidarity emerged as an anti-communist movement with religious nationalist overtones and today it supports
8050-488: The early cases being those of Colombia in 1810, Paraguay and Venezuela in 1811, and Chile in 1818. Adam Przeworski shows that some experiments with representative institutions in Latin America occurred earlier than in most European countries. Mass democracy, in which the working class had the right to vote, become common only in the 1930s and 1940s. The Spanish transition to democracy , known in Spain as la Transición ( IPA: [la tɾansiˈθjon] ; '
8165-548: The economic inequalities and favoring the interests of powerful elites and external actors over broader societal, which might lead to depending on money from outside, therefore affected by the economic situation in other countries. Sylvia Maxfield argues that a bigger demand for transparency in both the private and public sectors by some investors can contribute to a strengthening of democratic institutions and can encourage democratic consolidation. A 2016 study found that preferential trade agreements can increase democratization of
8280-421: The effect is quite beyond attainment by such means. The multitudes who compose the working class are too numerous and too widely scattered to combine at all, much more to combine effectually. If they could do so, they might doubtless succeed in diminishing the hours of labour, and obtaining the same wages for less work. They would also have a limited power of obtaining, by combination, an increase of general wages at
8395-489: The effects of the Great Depression. There is also the general observation that democracy was very rare before the industrial revolution. Empirical research thus led many to believe that economic development either increases chances for a transition to democracy, or helps newly established democracies consolidate. One study finds that economic development prompts democratization but only in the medium run (10–20 years). This
8510-484: The electoral arms of trade unions. Unions are also delineated by the service model and the organizing model . The service model union focuses more on maintaining worker rights, providing services, and resolving disputes. Alternately, the organizing model typically involves full-time union organizers , who work by building up confidence, strong networks, and leaders within the workforce; and confrontational campaigns involving large numbers of union members. Many unions are
8625-450: The elite and allowed for a smooth transition and growth of democratic institutions. The thesis that oil and other natural resources have a negative impact on democracy has been challenged by historian Stephen Haber and political scientist Victor Menaldo in a widely cited article in the American Political Science Review (2011). Haber and Menaldo argue that "natural resource reliance is not an exogenous variable" and find that when tests of
8740-462: The expense of profits. Beyond this claim, Mill also argued that, because individual workers had no basis for assessing the wages for a particular task, labour unions would lead to greater efficiency of the market system. British trade unions were finally legalized in 1872, after a Royal Commission on Trade Unions in 1867 agreed that the establishment of the organizations was to the advantage of both employers and employees. This period also saw
8855-423: The functions of a trade union. In these cases, they may be negotiating for white-collar or professional workers, such as physicians, engineers or teachers. In Sweden the white-collar unions have a strong position in collective bargaining where they cooperate with blue-colar unions in setting the "mark" (the industry norm) in negotiations with the employers' association in manufacturing industry. A union may acquire
8970-450: The growth of trade unions in other industrializing countries, especially the United States, Germany and France. In the United States, the first effective nationwide labour organization was the Knights of Labor , in 1869, which began to grow after 1880. Legalization occurred slowly as a result of a series of court decisions. The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions began in 1881 as
9085-675: The idea of a political party took form with groups debating rights to political representation during the Putney Debates of 1647. Subsequently, the Protectorate (1653–59) and the English Restoration (1660) restored more autocratic rule although Parliament passed the Habeas Corpus Act in 1679, which strengthened the convention that forbade detention lacking sufficient cause or evidence. The Glorious Revolution in 1688 established
9200-645: The industrial modernization of Japan began), the Taishō period (1912–1926), and the early Shōwa period. Despite pro-democracy movements such as the Freedom and People's Rights Movement (1870s and 1880s) and some proto-democratic institutions, Japanese society remained constrained by a highly conservative society and bureaucracy. Historian Kent E. Calder notes that writers that "Meiji leadership embraced constitutional government with some pluralist features for essentially tactical reasons" and that pre-World war II Japanese society
9315-406: The industry that binds them legally to their negotiations and functioning. Originating in the United Kingdom , trade unions became popular in many countries during the Industrial Revolution . Trade unions may be composed of individual workers, professionals , past workers , students , apprentices or the unemployed . Trade union density, or the percentage of workers belonging to a trade union,
9430-609: The likelihood of "democratization in regimes that are fragile and unstable, but makes this fragility less likely to begin with." There is research to suggest that greater urbanization, through various pathways, contributes to democratization. Numerous scholars and political thinkers have linked a large middle class to the emergence and sustenance of democracy, whereas others have challenged this relationship. In "Non-Modernization" (2022), Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson argue that modernization theory cannot account for various paths of political development "because it posits
9545-406: The likelihood of democratization is lower. In a highly unequal society (for example, South Africa under Apartheid ), the redistribution of wealth and power in a democracy would be so harmful to elites that these would do everything to prevent democratization. Democratization is more likely to emerge somewhere in the middle, in the countries, whose elites offer concessions because (1) they consider
9660-531: The likelihood of democratization. Initially argued by Lipset in 1959, this subsequently been referred to as modernization theory . According to Daniel Treisman, there is "a strong and consistent relationship between higher income and both democratization and democratic survival in the medium term (10–20 years), but not necessarily in shorter time windows." Robert Dahl argued that market economies provided favorable conditions for democratic institutions. A higher GDP/capita correlates with democracy and some claim
9775-819: The mid-1970s. The latest wave began in 1974 and is still ongoing. Democratization of Latin America and the former Eastern Bloc is part of this third wave . Waves of democratization can be followed by waves of de-democratization. Thus, Huntington, in 1991, offered the following depiction. • First wave of democratization, 1828–1926 • First wave of de-democratization, 1922–42 • Second wave of democratization, 1943–62 • Second wave of de-democratization, 1958–75 • Third wave of democratization, 1974– The idea of waves of democratization has also been used and scrutinized by many other authors, including Renske Doorenspleet, John Markoff , Seva Gunitsky , and Svend-Erik Skaaning. According to Seva Gunitsky, from
9890-450: The narrow boundaries for individual negotiations. As a condition to obtain the legal status of a trade union, employee associations need to prove that their leverage is strong enough to serve as a counterforce in negotiations with employers. If such an employee's association is competing against another union, its leverage may be questioned by unions and then evaluated in labour court. In Germany, only very few professional associations obtained
10005-525: The national body, the Miners' Federation of Great Britain , until 1907. In 1945, this became the National Union of Mineworkers , and the association became its Northumberland Area. This was dissolved in 2018. Trade union A trade union ( British English ) or labor union ( American English ), often simply referred to as a union , is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve
10120-506: The need to be in a union. The prevalence of labour unions can be measured by "union density", which is expressed as a percentage of the total number of workers in a given location who are trade union members. The table below shows the percentage across OECD members. Source: OECD Unions may organize a particular section of skilled workers ( craft unionism , traditionally found in Australia , Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland,
10235-542: The party after Ed secured the trade union votes. Additionally, in the past, there was a group known as the Conservative Trade Unionists , or CTU, formed of people who sympathized with right wing Tory policy but were Trade Unionists. Historically, the Republic of Korea has regulated collective bargaining by requiring employers to participate, but collective bargaining has only been legal if held in sessions before
10350-1010: The population). Slavery was not abolished in the Southern states until the constitutional Amendments of the Reconstruction era following the American Civil War (1861–1865). The provision of Civil Rights for African-Americans to overcome post-Reconstruction Jim Crow segregation in the South was achieved in the 1960s. There is considerable debate about the factors which affect (e.g., promote or limit) democratization. Factors discussed include economic, political, cultural, individual agents and their choices, international and historical. Scholars such as Seymour Martin Lipset ; Carles Boix and Susan Stokes , and Dietrich Rueschemeyer, Evelyne Stephens , and John Stephens argue that economic development increases
10465-447: The quantitative assessment of democratization. Some common democracy indices are Freedom House , Polity data series , V-Dem Democracy indices and Democracy Index . Democracy indices can be quantitative or categorical. Some disagreements among scholars concern the concept of democracy and how to measure democracy – and what democracy indices should be used. One way to summarize the outcome theories of democratization seek to account
10580-506: The reign of Caesar Augustus (27 BC–14 AD), collegia required the approval of the Roman Senate or the Roman emperor in order to be authorized as legal bodies. Ruins at Lambaesis date the formation of burial societies among Roman Army soldiers and Roman Navy mariners to the reign of Septimius Severus (193–211) in 198 AD. In September 2011, archaeological investigations done at the site of
10695-518: The relation between individual employees and employers is considered to be asymmetrical. In consequence, many working conditions are not negotiable due to a strong legal protection of individuals. However, the German flavor or works legislation has as its main objective to create a balance of power between employees organized in unions and employers organized in employers' associations. This allows much wider legal boundaries for collective bargaining, compared to
10810-608: The right to negotiate salaries and working conditions for their members, notably the medical doctor's association Marburger Bund [ de ] and the pilots association Vereinigung Cockpit [ de ] . The engineer's association Verein Deutscher Ingenieure does not strive to act as a union, as it also represents the interests of engineering businesses. Beyond the classification listed above, unions' relations with political parties vary. In many countries unions are tightly bonded, or even share leadership, with
10925-499: The right-wing Law and Justice party. Although their political structure and autonomy varies widely, union leaderships are usually formed through democratic elections . Some research, such as that conducted by the Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training, argues that unionized workers enjoy better conditions and wages than those who are not unionized. The oldest global trade union organizations include
11040-596: The role of the bourgeoisie in democratization. Eva Bellin argues that under certain circumstances, the bourgeoise and labor are more likely to favor democratization, but less so under other circumstances. Samuel Valenzuela argues that, counter to Moore's view, the landed elite supported democratization in Chile. A comprehensive assessment conducted by James Mahoney concludes that "Moore's specific hypotheses about democracy and authoritarianism receive only limited and highly conditional support." A 2020 study linked democratization to
11155-565: The role that unions play: The United States takes a more laissez-faire approach, setting some minimum standards but leaving most workers' wages and benefits to collective bargaining and market forces. Thus, it comes closest to the above Anglo-Saxon model. Also, the Eastern European countries that have recently entered into the EU come closest to the Anglo-Saxon model. In contrast, in Germany,
11270-712: The ruins of the Temple of Antinous in Antinoöpolis , that prescribed the rules and membership dues of a burial society collegium established in Lanuvium , in approximately 133 AD during the reign of Hadrian (117–138) of the Roman Empire. A collegium was any association in ancient Rome that acted as a legal entity . Following the passage of the Lex Julia during the reign of Julius Caesar (49–44 BC), and their reaffirmation during
11385-416: The service of a master. The critics of the new arrangement would call this " wage slavery ", but the term that persisted was a new form of human relations: employment. Unlike farmers, workers often had less control over their jobs; without job security or a promise of an on-going relationship with their employers, they lacked some control over the work they performed or how it impacted their health and life. It
11500-468: The short term). Robert Bates and Donald Lien, as well as David Stasavage, have argued that rulers' need for taxes gave asset-owning elites the bargaining power to demand a say on public policy, thus giving rise to democratic institutions. Montesquieu argued that the mobility of commerce meant that rulers had to bargain with merchants in order to tax them, otherwise they would leave the country or hide their commercial activities. Stasavage argues that
11615-399: The small size and backwardness of European states, as well as the weakness of European rulers, after the fall of the Roman Empire meant that European rulers had to obtain consent from their population to govern effectively. According to Clark, Golder, and Golder, an application of Albert O. Hirschman 's exit, voice, and loyalty model is that if individuals have plausible exit options, then
11730-502: The social structure at the time of transition. Thus, Moore challenged modernization theory, by stressing that there was not one path to the modern world and that economic development did not always bring about democracy. Many authors have questioned parts of Moore's arguments. Dietrich Rueschemeyer, Evelyne Stephens , and John D. Stephens, in Capitalist Development and Democracy (1992), raise questions about Moore's analysis of
11845-551: The state to count and hence more difficult to tax. Because of this, predation was no longer possible and the state had to negotiate with the new economic elites to extract revenue. A sustainable bargain had to be reached because the state became more dependent of its citizens remaining loyal and, with this, citizens had now leverage to be taken into account in the decision making process for the country. Adam Przeworski and Fernando Limongi argue that while economic development makes democracies less likely to turn authoritarian, there
11960-1182: The status of a " juristic person " (an artificial legal entity), with a mandate to negotiate with employers for the workers it represents. In such cases, unions have certain legal rights, most importantly the right to engage in collective bargaining with the employer (or employers) over wages, working hours, and other terms and conditions of employment . The inability of the parties to reach an agreement may lead to industrial action , culminating in either strike action or management lockout , or binding arbitration. In extreme cases, violent or illegal activities may develop around these events. In some regions, unions may face active repression, either by governments or by extralegal organizations, with many cases of violence , some having lead to deaths, having been recorded historically. Unions may also engage in broader political or social struggle. Social Unionism encompasses many unions that use their organizational strength to advocate for social policies and legislation favourable to their members or to workers in general. As well, unions in some countries are closely aligned with political parties . Many Labour parties were founded as
12075-445: The threat of a revolution credible and (2) the cost of the concessions is not too high. This expectation is in line with the empirical research showing that democracy is more stable in egalitarian societies. Other approaches to the relationship between inequality and democracy have been presented by Carles Boix , Stephan Haggard and Robert Kaufman, and Ben Ansell and David Samuels . In their 2019 book The Narrow Corridor and
12190-444: The trade unions when trying to organize the informal economy. This has been a significant threshold to labour organizing in low-income countries , where the labour force mostly works in the informal economy. In the United Kingdom, the perceived left-leaning nature of trade unions (and their historical close alignment with the Labour Party ) has resulted in the formation of a reactionary right-wing trade union called Solidarity which
12305-502: The view that trade unions are part of a broader movement of benefit societies , which includes medieval guilds , Freemasons , Oddfellows , friendly societies , and other fraternal organizations . Following the unification of the city-states in Assyria and Sumer by Sargon of Akkad into a single empire c. 2334 BC , a common Mesopotamian standard for length, area, volume, weight, and time used by artisan guilds in each city
12420-520: The wealthiest democracies have never been observed to fall into authoritarianism. The rise of Hitler and of the Nazis in Weimar Germany can be seen as an obvious counter-example, but although in early 1930s Germany was already an advanced economy, by that time, the country was also living in a state of economic crisis virtually since the first World War (in the 1910s), a crisis which was eventually worsened by
12535-961: Was dominated by a "loose coalition" of "landed rural elites, big business, and the military" that was averse to pluralism and reformism. While the Imperial Diet survived the impacts of Japanese militarism , the Great Depression , and the Pacific War , other pluralistic institutions, such as political parties , did not. After World War II, during the Allied occupation , Japan adopted a much more vigorous, pluralistic democracy. Countries in Latin America became independent between 1810 and 1825, and soon had some early experiences with representative government and elections. All Latin American countries established representative institutions soon after independence,
12650-491: Was enacted in the Kingdom of England , but their way of thinking was the one that endured down the centuries, inspiring evolutions and advances in thinking which eventually gave workers more power. As collective bargaining and early worker unions grew with the onset of the Industrial Revolution, the government began to clamp down on what it saw as the danger of popular unrest at the time of the Napoleonic Wars . In 1799,
12765-605: Was founded in 1887 and merged with the Fédération nationale des syndicats (National Federation of Trade Unions) in 1895 to form the General Confederation of Labour . In a number of countries during the 20th century, including in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, legislation was passed to provide for the voluntary or statutory recognition of a union by an employer. Union density has been steadily declining from
12880-459: Was not merely one of relocation from rural to urban environs; rather, the nature of industrial work created a new class of "worker". A farmer worked the land, raised animals and grew crops, and either owned the land or paid rent, but ultimately sold a product and had control over his life and work. As industrial workers, however, the workers sold their work as labour and took directions from employers, giving up part of their freedom and self-agency in
12995-413: Was promulgated by Naram-Sin of Akkad ( c. 2254 –2218 BC), Sargon's grandson, including for shekels . Codex Hammurabi Law 234 ( c. 1755–1750 BC ) stipulated a 2-shekel prevailing wage for each 60-gur (300- bushel ) vessel constructed in an employment contract between a shipbuilder and a ship-owner. Law 275 stipulated a ferry rate of 3- gerah per day on a charterparty between
13110-647: Was reestablished in West Germany during the U.S.-led occupation which undertook the denazification of society. In Great Britain, there was renewed interest in Magna Carta in the 17th century. The Parliament of England enacted the Petition of Right in 1628 which established certain liberties for subjects. The English Civil War (1642–1651) was fought between the King and an oligarchic but elected Parliament, during which
13225-421: Was the case of Ecuador in the 1970s, the result would be a higher likelihood of democratization. In 1972, the military coup had overthrown the government in large part because of the fears of elites that redistribution would take place. That same year oil became an increasing financial source for the country. Although the rents were used to finance the military, the eventual second oil boom of 1979 ran parallel to
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