Comparing Policy Networks Labor Politics in the U.S., Germany, and Japan

This book examines how labor policies were made in the US, Germany, and Japan during the 1980s.

The United States, Germany, and Japan - the world's three most powerful and successful free market societies - differ strikingly in how their governments relate to their economies. Comparing Policy Networks reports the results of collaborative research by three teams investigating the social organization and policymaking processes of national labor policy domains in the United States, Germany, and Japan during the 1980s. The researchers gathered information about policy goals, communication patterns, and political support connections from 350 key national organizations, including labor unions, business associations, public interest groups, government agencies, and political parties. These networks reveal similar conflict divisions between business and labor interests, but also distinctive patterns within each nation. Unique combinations of informal policy-making networks and the national political institutions may in part explain the differences in power structures and legislative decisions.

List of tables and figures; Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Policy-making in the organizational state; 2. Three labor policy domains; 3. Finding domain actors; 4. organizational policy interests; 5. Policy webs: networks, reputations, and activities; 6. Fighting collectively: action sets and events; 7. Exchange processes; 8. Power structures; 9. Variations on a theme of organizational states; Appendix 1. Legislative procedures in three nations; Appendix 2. Labor policy domain organizations; Appendix 3. Labor policy domain issues; Appendix 4. Labor policy domain legislative bills; Footnotes; References; Tables and figures.

Comparing Policy Networks reports the results of collaborative research by three teams investigating the social organization and policy-making processes of national labor policy domains in the United States, Germany, and Japan during the 1980s.