Labor Unions and Non-member Political Protest Mobilization in the United States

• Author: Brian F. Schaffner,Gregory Lyon
• Published date: 01 December 2021
• Date: 01 December 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/1065912920950826
• Subject Matter: Articles

2021, Vol. 74(4) 998 –1008

https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912920950826

Political Research Quarterly

© 2020 University of Utah

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DOI: 10.1177/1065912920950826

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Article

Introduction

Political participation takes many forms, but few acts call

into question prevailing structures of power and authority

like political protest.1 Ranging from the labor movement to

women’s suffrage to Civil Rights to recent protests against

inequality, political demonstrations in the United States

have become a central piece of the political process. As

David Meyer (2007, 1) notes, “Increasingly, protest is an

addition, rather than an alternative, to politics as usual.”

Research on political protest tends to emphasize the indi-

vidual characteristics associated with protesting (Schussman

and Soule 2005). However, sustained and effective protests

require planning, organizational capacity, and social ties.

Although scholars have emphasized these factors and

pointed to the importance of networks and resources

(Schlozman, Verba, and Brady 2012; Verba, Schlozman, and

Brady 1995), systematic empirical studies of the contextual

determinants of individual-level decisions to participate in

protests in the United States remain scarce.

Drawing on data from two waves of the Cooperative

Congressional Election Study (CCES), this paper examines

the role of labor unions—long seen as important mobilizing

organizations in American society—in mobilizing individ-

uals to engage in political protest. While research has docu-

mented that union members are significantly more likely to

engage in political protest than non-members (Kerrissey

and Schofer 2013), it is unclear whether the presence of

unions facilitates participation in protests among people

who are not themselves union members.

We propose and test two mechanisms through which

unions mobilize non-members: social ties and aggregate

strength. Even after accounting for a range of important

individual-level characteristics associated with protest

behavior, the findings indicate that unions play an impor-

tant role in mobilizing non-members to engage in protest:

non-members with a social tie to a union or who live in

states where unions are more robust are significantly more

likely to engage in political protest. The findings extend

our understanding of an important, but understudied, act of

political behavior as well as the ways that societal institu-

tions interact with individual behavior to stimulate collec-

tive mobilization.

Individuals, Institutions, and Political

Protest

Political protest can stimulate engagement, draw public

attention to issues, and challenge prevailing systems of

950826

PRQXXX10.1177/1065912920950826Political Research QuarterlyLyon and Schaner

research-article2020

1Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA

Corresponding Author:

Gregory Lyon, Tufts University, Packard Hall, Medford, MA 02155,

USA.

Email: greg.lyon@tufts.edu

Labor Unions and Non-member Political

Protest Mobilization in the United States

Gregory Lyon1 and Brian F. Schaffner1

Abstract

While political protest and labor unions are seen as important elements in democratic societies, systematic research

on the relationship between the two is scarce. Past research finds that union members are more likely to engage in

protest, but it is unclear whether unions increase protest among non-members. This study draws on two waves of

data from the Cooperative Congressional Election Study and examines two mechanisms through which labor unions

facilitate political protest among non-members: social ties and aggregate strength. We provide evidence that labor

unions mobilize non-members to engage in political protest. When non-members have a social tie to a union or live

in a state where unions are more robust and widespread, they are more likely to engage in political protest, but no

more likely to engage in non-collective forms of political participation such as donating to political causes or contacting

officials. The findings extend our understanding of an important, but understudied, act of political behavior as well as

the ways that societal institutions stimulate collective political mobilization.

Keywords

labor unions, political participation, protest