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Government Partisanship, Labor Organization, and Macroeconomic Performance

Publication ,  Journal Article
Alvarez, RM; Garrett, G; Lange, P
Published in: American Political Science Review
June 1991

Governments of the Left and Right have distinct partisan economic policies and objectives that they would prefer to pursue. Their propensity to do so, however, is constrained by their desire for reelection. We argue that the ability of governments to further their partisan interests and preside over reelectable macroeconomic outcomes simultaneously is dependent on the organization of the domestic economy, particularly the labor movement. We hypothesize that there are two different paths to desirable macroeconomic performance. In countries with densely and centrally organized labor movements, leftist governments can promote economic growth and reduce inflation and unemployment. Conversely, in countries with weak labor movements, rightist governments can pursue their partisan-preferred macroeconomic strategies and achieve similarly beneficial macroeconomic outcomes. Performance will be poorer in other cases. These hypotheses are supported by analysis of pooled annual time series data for 16 advanced industrial democracies between 1967 and 1984.

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Published In

American Political Science Review

DOI

EISSN

1537-5943

ISSN

0003-0554

Publication Date

June 1991

Volume

85

Issue

2

Start / End Page

539 / 556

Publisher

Cambridge University Press (CUP)

Related Subject Headings

  • Political Science & Public Administration
  • 4408 Political science
  • 1606 Political Science
 

Citation

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ICMJE
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Alvarez, R. M., Garrett, G., & Lange, P. (1991). Government Partisanship, Labor Organization, and Macroeconomic Performance. American Political Science Review, 85(2), 539–556. https://doi.org/10.2307/1963174
Alvarez, R Michael, Geoffrey Garrett, and Peter Lange. “Government Partisanship, Labor Organization, and Macroeconomic Performance.” American Political Science Review 85, no. 2 (June 1991): 539–56. https://doi.org/10.2307/1963174.
Alvarez RM, Garrett G, Lange P. Government Partisanship, Labor Organization, and Macroeconomic Performance. American Political Science Review. 1991 Jun;85(2):539–56.
Alvarez, R. Michael, et al. “Government Partisanship, Labor Organization, and Macroeconomic Performance.” American Political Science Review, vol. 85, no. 2, Cambridge University Press (CUP), June 1991, pp. 539–56. Crossref, doi:10.2307/1963174.
Alvarez RM, Garrett G, Lange P. Government Partisanship, Labor Organization, and Macroeconomic Performance. American Political Science Review. Cambridge University Press (CUP); 1991 Jun;85(2):539–556.
Journal cover image

Published In

American Political Science Review

DOI

EISSN

1537-5943

ISSN

0003-0554

Publication Date

June 1991

Volume

85

Issue

2

Start / End Page

539 / 556

Publisher

Cambridge University Press (CUP)

Related Subject Headings

  • Political Science & Public Administration
  • 4408 Political science
  • 1606 Political Science