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Political attitudes, participation and union membership in the UK
Author(s) -
Trentini Marco
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
industrial relations journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.525
H-Index - 3
eISSN - 1468-2338
pISSN - 0019-8692
DOI - 10.1111/irj.12352
Subject(s) - politics , biology and political orientation , ideology , political economy , political science , scale (ratio) , political culture , orientation (vector space) , sociology , law , geography , geometry , cartography , mathematics
Unionisation continues to decline in the UK. This paper examines the changes over time in the relationship between politics and union membership, and it is based on European Social Survey data from 2002 to 2018. Political attitudes have been analysed by considering the interest in politics and ideological orientation according to self‐placement on the left–right scale, and behaviour looking at political participation. Political orientation (being left‐wing) and political participation are determinants of union membership. However, in the UK, a centrist political orientation prevails, and political participation is low. The relationship between political attitudes, behaviour and unionisation over time has been stable.