A New Century of Corporatism? - Corporatism in Southern Europe--Spain and Portugal in Comparative Perspective

Royo examines how national-level social bargaining was established in Portugal and Spain during the last two decades, despite unpropitious institutional and structural conditions. He argues that this development was the result of the reorientation of the strategies of the social actors. With their support for these macro-economic agreements labor unions sought to participate in labor and economic reforms and avoid the implementation of unilateral policies on the part of governments, while mitigating the decline in their bargaining power at the workplace level.

In addition, Royo contends that a process of institutional learning and increasing autonomy by unions from political parties, particularly in Spain, have further enhanced social dialogue and led the social actors to conclude that previous confrontational strategies were detrimental to the interests of their constituencies and threatened their own survival. Royo claims that the emergence of new institutions to promote tripartite social bargaining in both countries resulted in the institutionalization of the bargaining process and contributed to a transformation in the pattern of industrial relations. Of particular interest to scholars and researchers involved with Iberian politics, labor, and political economy.

List of contents

Preface
Introduction
The Quest for Theory
Social Bargaining in Spain: A Historical Overview
Social Bargaining in Portugal: A Historical Overview
The Institutional Setting: Developments in Industrial Relations in Spain and Portugal
The Empirical Puzzle: Explaining the Strategics of the Social Actors
Social Bargaining and Wage Moderation
A New Century of Liberal Corporatism?
Bibliography

About the author

SEBASTIÁN ROYO is Assistant Professor of Government at Suffolk University and Affiliate at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University. Among his earlier publications is From Social Democracy to Neoliberalism: The Consequences of Party Hegemony in Spain (2000).

Product details

• Authors: Sebastian Royo
• Publisher: Bloomsbury
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: ages 7 to 17
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.05.2002
• EAN: 9780275969585
• ISBN: 978-0-275-96958-5
• No. of pages: 336
• Weight: 624 g
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Social sciences (general); Portugal, Spain, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Process / Political Advocacy, POLITICAL SCIENCE / World / European, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Labor & Industrial Relations, Political activism, Labour / income economics, Labour Economics, c 1990 to c 2000, c 1990 to c 1999, C 1980 To C 1990, c 1980 to c 1989, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Labor / General, Industrial arbitration & negotiation, Political activism / Political engagement, Industrial arbitration and negotiation, Politics, Law, and Government: Comparative Politics