No Struggle, No Progress: Labor-Led Democratization and Labor Rights

• In Event: Re-working Democracy: Defending Substantive Rights through Labor Struggle

Abstract

Does democratization lead to the protection of labor rights? Despite optimism that democratization would improve labor rights, many democracies continue to violate workers’ basic rights to organize, collectively bargain, and strike. This paper argues that whether democratization increases respect for labor rights depends on which domestic group leads the struggle for democracy. Bottom-up democratization led by labor unions results in new democracies that increase the protection of labor rights. In contrast, top-down democratization led by economic elites results in new democracies that maintain the repressive labor rights regimes inherited from their authoritarian predecessors. This paper tests this argument with quantitative analysis of data from 175 developed and developing countries from 1945 to 2020. Using three different measures of labor rights, it finds that bottom-up democratization was associated with an increase in overall respect for labor rights, an increase in the probability of adopting a constitution that protects workers’ rights to unionize and strike, and an increase in pro-labor legislation. In contrast, top-down democratic transitions were associated with no change in respect for labor rights, pro-labor constitution, or pro-labor legislation.

Author

• Adam Dean, George Washington University