Restrictive labor laws entrench party advantage without any formal rule change.
Evidence
Yet political actors intent on entrenching their preferred parties or policies need not resort to manipulating the formal rules of the Constitution, elections, or legislation. Consider recent changes to public-sector labor law. Labor unions generally provide support to Democratic candidates, mobilizing pro- Democratic voters and funding the logistical and organizational infrastructure of Democratic campaigns. Seeking to defend their hold on power against Democratic challengers, Republican officeholders have enacted restrictive labor 2. — Daryl Levinson and Benjamin I. Sachs, Political Entrenchment and Public Law, 14
Categorization
- QUESTION: The excerpt cuts off before the mechanism is fully spelled out; worth pursuing how public-sector union restrictions map onto durable ideological entrenchment.
- XREF: connects to: Functional political entrenchment works without changing formal legal rules — Daryl Levinson and Benjamin I. Sachs, Political Entrenchment and Public Law, 173; Labor law rules function as tools for partisan entrenchment — Daryl Levinson and Benjamin I. Sachs, Political Entrenchment and Public Law, 241; A ruling party exercises hegemonic power without formal juridical rule — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 944 (+2 more)
Broader Connections
- Functional political entrenchment works without changing formal legal rules
#expands(0.93) — Daryl Levinson and Benjamin I. Sachs, Political Entrenchment and Public Law, 173 - Labor law rules function as tools for partisan entrenchment
#corroborates(0.88) — Daryl Levinson and Benjamin I. Sachs, Political Entrenchment and Public Law, 241 - Entrenchment can be functional, via empowered constituencies, not only formal legal rules
#expands(0.85) — Daryl Levinson and Benjamin I. Sachs, Political Entrenchment and Public Law, 370 - A ruling party exercises hegemonic power without formal juridical rule
#expands(0.78) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 944 - Citizens can win policies without influencing them when elites agree.
#exemplifies(0.74) — Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page, Testing Theories of American Politics, 75