Political Parties, Movements, and American Exceptionalism

• In Event: 261 - Section on Political Sociology Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 03. Parties, Movements, Regimes

Abstract

Social scientists have long asked: why is the United States the only industrialized country without a socialist, social democratic or labor party (Sombart [1906] 1979, Lipset and Marks 2000, Archer 2007)? With the rise in economic inequality since the 1970s and the corresponding decline of labor unions (Milkman 2013), the question is as analytically and politically salient as ever. This project contributes to the scholarly conversation by inverting the question, offering provisional explanations for the rise of three progressive third parties—the Vermont Progressive Party (2000s), the Working Families Party (2000s) and the American Labor Party (1930s)—that are exceptions to the U.S. two party tendency. Comparatively assessing these relatively successful parties provides a fresh look at the role of many factors—race, electoral law, repression and more—typically used to explain progressive third party failure in the United States.

Author

• Luke Elliott-Negri