Bargaining in the Democratic Party

Abstract

For better or worse, labor almost irrevocably committed itself to the Democratic Party in the 1930s. Up through the 1950s, the party needed labor as much as labor needed the party. Tensions between the two, apparent from the start, increased steadily, almost reaching a breaking point in the 1970s. Since then, relations have settled into a fluctuating pattern of symbiotic cooperation. Both labor and the party, representing coalitions of local, state, and national organizations, continue to try articulate their organizations as elections approach (Mayhew 1986). Bargaining between the these two coalitions has been a continuous process from the beginning, a process which is little understood. This chapter tries to gain insight into some aspects of that process.