chAPTeR seven • InTeResT GRouPs AnD PolITIcAl PARTIes 147
Public employee unions. The degree of unionization in the private sector has declined
over the past fifty years, but this has been partially offset by growth in the unionization of
public employees. With a total membership of almost 8 million, public sector unions are
a powerful force.
In recent years, conservatives have taken a strong stand against public employee
unions, in particular teachers’ unions such as the National Education Association and the
American Federation of Teachers. In some states, mostly in the South, bargaining with
public sector unions is prohibited. In 2011, Republican governors in several midwestern
states—notably Ohio and Wisconsin—attempted to restrict or abolish the bargaining
rights of public employees.The Political environment faced by labor. The success or failure of attempts to
form unions depends greatly on popular attitudes. Many business-oriented conserva-
tives have never accepted unions as legitimate institutions. In states where this position is
widely held, local laws and practices can make it hard for labor to organize. One example
is “right-to-work” laws, which we discuss in the Politics and Economics feature on the
following page.Interest Groups of Professionals. Many professional organizations exist, including
the American Bar Association, the Association of General Contractors of America, the
Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, and others. Some professional groups, such
as those representing physicians, are more influential than others because of their ability
to restrict entry into their professions. Lawyers have a unique advantage—a large number0
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Private Sector
To tal Workforce
Public Sector
Percentage of WorkforceYear19 48 19 58 1968 1978 19 88 19 98 2008 2018
fIGuRe 7–1: Decline in union membership, 1948 to Present
The percentage of the total workforce that consists of labor union members has declined precipitously
over the past forty years. The percentage of government workers who are union members, however,
increased significantly in the 1960s and 1970s and has remained stable since then.Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics.Copyright 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.