Labor organization and public policy in the American states

While the effort within the state politics literature to isolate the political determinants of public policy represents one of the most successful research programs in political science, researchers have in the main failed to consider the special role of labor organization in a capitalistic democracy. Using cross-sectional and time-series data on a number of policy indicators, we demonstrate that the relative strength of the labor movement across the American states is one of the principal determinants of policy liberalism. The implications for public policy and the study of American politics are discussed.