The ‘iron triangle’ of municipal government: trade unions, bureaucracy and political parties in a French town (Toulouse, 1910–1970)

Abstract

In Toulouse, during the first decades of the twentieth century, the unionization of the workforce and the institutionalization of a co-management system were active factors in the modernization of municipal government. It contributed decisively towards the decline of patronage and political pressure that had hitherto characterized the relationship between local elected representatives and the municipal workforce. An established partnership involving the local union, the ruling party and the head of bureaucracy became a structural element in the city's municipal government for almost 50 years.