‘Breaking up is hard to do’: German trade unions within the Social Democratic Party

Abstract

Scholars have long conceptualized unions and left parties as powerful and independent social actors within national systems of the political economy. Yet a unique survey of more than 2300 German Social Democratic Party (SPD) activists provides new insights into the relationship of two, in fact, deeply intertwined organizations. Factor analysis followed by multivariate regression of the survey results reveal two distinct dimensions of alienation that occur among party activists as they evaluate trade unions. ‘Content alienation’ picks up on differences in political goals among unions and the SPD. Meanwhile, ‘contact alienation’ builds on scepticism about union inclination or capacity. Novel data establish the magnitude and distribution of these two forms of alienation as measured by individual-level attitudes, which, in turn, have implications for debates on comparative political economy, political parties and corporatism. They suggest also sources of resilience and stability in German capitalism, notwithstanding important levels of alienation inside the party over trade union goals and methods.