1. Malte
Nyfos
Mathiasen
University
of
California
at
Berkeley
Jerome
Karabel
1
Co-­‐opting
labor-­‐based
Parties
and
Un-­‐
ions
Strife,
strategy
and
strike
through
1880-­‐1920
in
the
US
and
Denmark
“Industrial
unionism
is
socialism
with
its
working
clothes
on.”1
Table
of
Contents
ABSTRACT
2
DATA
AND
METHOD
3
INTRODUCTION
3
RESEARCH
QUESTION
5
COMPARISON
OF
THE
UNITED
STATES,
NEW
JERSEY
AND
DENMARK
7
A
BRIEF
HISTORY
7
USA
8
DENMARK
9
NEW
JERSEY
10
“AMERICAN
EXCEPTIONALISM”
10
LABOR-­‐BASED
PARTY
AND
UNION
DYNAMICS
12
STATE
FORMATION
12
STATE
AND
CAPITALIST
CLASS
POWER
EQUILIBRIUM
12
INDUSTRIALIZATION
AND
URBANIZATION
14
INCLUSIONARY
AND
EXCLUSIONARY
STRATEGIES
15
DENSITY
OF
MEMBERSHIP,
SUPPORT
AND
IDENTITY
15
RECIPROCAL
LABOR-­‐BASED
PARTY
AND
UNION
SUPPORT
17
SUMMARY
OF
THE
DYNAMICS
FOR
LABOR-­‐BASE
PARTIES
AND
UNIONS
IN
1880-­‐1920
19
CONCLUSION
AND
DISCUSSION
20
BIBLIOGRAPHY
22
1
William Haywood (Voss, 1993: 174)

2. Malte
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University
of
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at
Berkeley
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Karabel
2
Abstract
The study aspires to explain the non-existence of a labor-based party and a powerful na-
tional union in the United States and the emergence of a labor-based party and union in
Denmark. With Lipset & Marks as a starting point I explore the dynamic implications for
labor-based parties and unions through analysis of four different factors. I study the varia-
tion in a) state, capitalist and working-class equilibriums, b) industrialization and urbani-
zation, c) labor-based support and identity and d) union membership and strategy in
Denmark, USA and New Jersey. I examine patterns of similarity in a case study design,
including the American notion of “exceptionalism” and the low opportunity for generali-
zation across cases. I conclude that there exist mechanism to bypass the constraint by
first-past-the-post electoral systems for a third labor-based party and that the density and
reciprocal inclusionary support of unions and parties are decisive for the strength and ex-
istence of a labor-based party in Denmark and the non-existence in the US.

3. Malte
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University
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Data
and
method
Introduction
The non-existence of a labor party in the United States and the failure of socialism have
been object for intense research across countries and structural variables and by careful
historical observations of pivotal events, strategies and relational dynamics (Archer,
2010; Lipset & Marks 2001). Archer and Lipset & Marks find common explanations in-
sufficient, such as 1) the failure of the organizations and leaders, 2) socialism’s incompat-
ibility to American values and 3) that the constitution and de-facto two-party system tend
not to facilitate emergence of a third labor-based party. But Archer and Lipset & Marks
do observe that United States most important labor union, the American Federation of
Labor (AFL), had a distinctive negative relation to the socialists and minor socialist par-
ties, whom they perceived as a dysfunctional and intellectual construction. Instead AFL
preferred an anti-state, anti-political and job-conscious approach that caused more vio-
lence and strikes and made the relation between labor and union and on the other hand
parties more distant than in Europe and Denmark (Lipset & Marks, 2001: 22-24, 38).
The social and ethnical heterogeneity and the greater occupational and geographic mobil-
ity also enforced that the workers do not to experience commonality and perceive them-
selves as a class in the United States (Lipset & Marks, 2001: 39). Besides, there are
countless factors, which this method can not take into account. To be mentioned is the
geopolitical situation, where Denmark is placed close to major state powers as Germany
and Russia and thus influenced, where USA at a different level were drawn into the first
and second World War with consent. I am aware that this may lead to ascribe an effect to

4. Malte
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University
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Karabel
4
the wrong cause. This a feature of the most similar case study design, where there is a
different outcome on the independent variable: a powerful labor party and labor union in
Denmark and no labor party and a less powerful and declining labor union in the U.S.A.
We might therefore expect the validity of the study to be low for other countries, since
the analysis is informed by large chunks of contextual and historical data. On the other
hand, I sincerely believe that the historical details and relational dynamics between cen-
tral actors are pivotal to create a sufficient and not overgeneralized explanation. I find
that the most similar case study design that Archer uses needs to be triangulated by cases,
which are more different. By looking closer at the very different case in Denmark I find
similarities to USA that commonly are used as explanations for the labor union and labor
parties. But since they appear in both cases, they cannot be strong causes or precondi-
tions, but might better be evaluated as symptoms or effects of a powerful labor-based par-
ty or labor union. In other words, my case study is nor a most different- or similar design
but an application to falsify wrong and common explanations for the emergence of a la-
bor-based party.
Therefore, the exact configuration is very different from the one in Europe and Denmark,
and the research question is very decisive for the findings, the emphasis on unions and
parties and socialism as an idea. The period of time and the conclusion we may draw also
differ, if we emphasize on the situation of today or until 1920, where the American and
Danish labor union still drew forth. My starting point is Archer and Lipset & Marks re-
search questions, respectively, why is there no labor party, and why is there no socialism
in America.

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Research
question
My first assumption is that we need to integrate the Archer and Lipset & Marks ques-
tions, because the emergence of socialism or social democratic parties were closely inter-
linked to labor unions. I therefore ask:
Why did a powerful labor-based party and labor union founded in socialist ideas emerge
in Denmark but not in the United States?
I use Archer’s typology of labor-based party, where they can be social democratic parties,
socialist parties and labor parties with linkages to labor unions and in accordance to cor-
responding national context (Archer, 2010: 3). The standard opposition against this ap-
proach is that Denmark and the USA are not comparable and vary too much in size and
other socioeconomic and structural variables. I find this critique relevant and do not at-
tempt to generalize and validate my findings to other countries. Though my conclusion
emphasizes the dynamics of exclusionary or inclusionary labor-based strategies, the op-
portunities in the electoral system and the support for the party and union among working
class as very decisive factors for labor-based politics emergence, I don not claim any cau-
sality.
To inform and contextualize the limits of this analysis, I conceptualize to what degree my
two cases are comparable and install the intermediate case of the state of New Jersey. As
one of the American states it may have a better size and another state formative history to
better compare with Denmark without all the aspects of the unique American constituen-

6. Malte
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cy. I therefore ask:
How is the labor-based parties and unions comparable in USA, New Jersey and Den-
mark?
I answer this question partly through a short historical review of the increase of the labor
union and parties in Denmark and USA in the 1880-1920. The period is chosen, because
it is the time where labor-based parties emerged in other countries and in Denmark, and
other scholars argue that the necessary preconditions to emerge existed in USA. Why did
a powerful labor party and union emerge in Denmark but not in the USA or New Jersey?
The question is important, because it can explain the mechanism, by which socialism and
labor movement do and do not emerge. It also holds a global relevancy, because the
United States today is a hegemonic global power influences other countries, and the
world today has a rising social inequality for workers, whom labor-based parties and un-
ions were created to shield. The power of labor unions to pass e.g. the Social Security
Program, the Medicare and facilitate the Civil Right Act in the 50s and 60s can hardly be
ignored (Hacker & Pierson, 2011: 139)
My analysis starts by describing how Denmark, USA, and New Jersey are comparable by
a historical review. Secondly, I explore the exclusionary and inclusionary features and the
support and membership of labor-based parties and unions. Thirdly, I explore the state
formation, including the power equilibrium of the state and capitalist class and dynamics
of industrialization, employment and rural and urban areas. Lastly, I conclude and discuss
the relevance of my findings.

7. Malte
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University
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Comparison
of
the
United
States,
New
Jersey
and
Denmark
A
brief
history
Denmark and USA both have a large agricultural sector, craftsman union, who organized
labor across different occupations and a first-past-the-post electoral system. Starting with
these important equivalent factors the dynamics shifted over time, as Denmark through
the period developed parliamentary democracy and a powerful labor-based party (Logue,
1982: 66).
Denmark and US also differed on very important matters, e.g. we see in 1915 Denmark
very lately follows the tendency over Europe to change the electoral system to a propor-
tional system. The Social Democrats in 1913 manage to gain the support from 29 % vot-
ers and become the most voted party with the second most seats in the Danish parliamen-
tary (Nohlen & Stöver, 2010: 524). By this time the Liberal Party of Denmark and peas-
ant party, whom they also participated in an electoral pact with, only succeeds. Today
these two parties are also the main competitors to establish a governing coalition and
have delivered the most prime ministers. This configuration is similar to the Democratic
and Republican party in USA, but USA maintains the first-past-the-post electoral system
and a general two-party system, where Denmark evolves from two parties to a four-party
system and later into a multi-parti-system with other labor-based socialist or communist
alternatives. The story tells that Duverger’s law that a third party can not rise, since the
winner occupies all district seats, and a vote on a third party therefore tends to be non-
decisive and potentially wasted, is not a an iron-law, which can explain the non-existence
of labor-based parties in US, when it emerged in Denmark under the same circumstances
(Lipset & Marks, 2001: 45ff; Dahl, 2005: 61).

8. Malte
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Capitalist classes opposed the craftsman unions, who by time turned into labor unions,
more directly in USA than in Europe, where the antagonism was softer. The American
labor union was divided, and the industrial unions, which tended to be more sympathetic
to labor-based parties, were always a minority (Lipset & Marks, 2001: 89ff).
USA
By no labor-based party in the USA I mean that there were no significant party, who re-
peatedly won seats and elections. In absolute terms there were parties, e.g. The United
Labor Party in 1886, the labor-populist party in 1894 and the farmer-labor parties after
first World War, but they never grow into a coalition with blackmail power, partly be-
cause the have no direct link and can not negotiate and proxy on behalf of labor (Archer,
2010: 5f).
The American Federation of Labor (AFL) is the most important labor union in USA and
emerges in 1886 primarily as a craft union. Secondarily, The Knights of Labor organized
unskilled and skilled workers in what has been comprehended as an inclusive strategy
(Archer, 2006: 14) The Knights of Labor drew on republican political ideals, why they
both tended to be more broadly visionary and political than AFL (Voss, 1993: 80). This
let them lean more against the Republican Party, whom the labor literature dominantly
not has conceived as the most friendly and feasible labor party. But the future develop-
ment of the Republican Party cannot determine the opportunities around the opening of
the 20th
century.
“New England” as America sometimes is referred to, is inhabited by immigrants. The
different waves of immigrant across the globes lead to cleavages that were similar to the
non-skilled worker and skilled-worker gap and the period from 1881 to 1920 had a steady

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9
decreasing proportion of Western European immigrants from 72 % to 31 %. The new-
comers faced difficulties to integrate into the craft unions and the migration thus tended
to enforce ethnical and occupational cleavages, instead of class-consciousness (Archer,
1997: 71). In his study of Australia and the USA Archer finds that migration and ethnical
cleavages also can enforce class-consciousness against an outer opponent through racial
and populist rhetoric (ibid.). This refines the picture, so that we see that immigration and
social cleavages can modulate the opportunities for a labor-based party but do not solely
determine it.
Denmark
Across the Atlantic the National Trade Union Federation (LO) in Denmark evolves in the
1870s and grows a formal link to the Social Democracy party. The LO was organized in
industrial cartels and craft unions on a national level but on a municipal level, they were
affiliated across craft boundaries (Logue, 1982: 127). The municipal integration can
cause another political identity and commonality with other industries, which is a point I
will chase in the later section about labor-based parties and unions exclusionary and in-
clusionary strategies.
Labor and employer agreements are negotiated on a national level and binding for all
members, and from the invention we see a very high density of union membership among
workers. The relationship among LO and the state has been antagonistic, but the relation
shifts as the Social Democrats grows in power in the 1880 (Logue, 1982: 128f)

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New
Jersey
Compared to Denmark today New Jersey has 3 million inhabitants more and is half the
size. This makes them a more equivalent sizeable comparison than the US and sheds
light on the dynamics between state and federal level in the US.
New Jersey is famously coined “the traitor state”, after the Congress and federal level in
1890 passed Act expanding the possibilities for enterprises to merge into larger unit and
establish their headquarter in New Jersey. Under these circumstances court decisions in-
creased employers’ scope of actions and restricted the workers. In order to change politi-
cal conditions they had to win a majority of votes. But for four reasons the workers
choose to work from within established parties: 1) they only formed a rapidly increasing
minority in the urban areas and could not win, 2) the elections tend to be closely contest-
ed and enforced the risk of wasting the vote, 3) the economical resources to campaign
was costly and 4) a third-party solution would create party cleavages among the union
members (Voss, 1993: 120f).
As the setbacks for the national organization sets in the Knights of Labor in New Jersey
also faces a challenge. The strikes frequently fails, and the Knight of Labor members are
not voted in office. Instead antilabor sentiments grow and employers fired workers, who
were also members and the craft employers formed their own employer organization at
the same time (Voss, 1993: 133). The tendency for employers to form organizations first
happens in Denmark in 1896 more than ten years after the Social Democrats Party has
seats in government.
“American
exceptionalism”
The phrase of “American exceptionalism” has been used in various ways to distinguish
the “American dream” and the liberal universal idea of democracy especially in foreign

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policy. As many other studies show democracy and in this study electoral system differ a
lot, but I see no purpose to make a claim based on ideas of American exception. Contrast,
I find the concept analytic in the labor literature, where it rather describes the American
deviation from a general pattern. This is what have made scholars since Sombart declare
an “American exceptionalism” to account for the peculiar expected non-event of social-
ism in the US (Halpern & Morris, 1997: 2). The US is here considered an outlier, but as
Voss insist the similarities are more notable in the first period of working-class formation
and considering the US an outlier and “exceptional” imply that we cannot explain the de-
viance and thus risk falsifying the whole theory of working-class formation (Voss, 45,
1993). Instead I find it more prosperous to insist and evaluate similarities and deviance
among the reasonable different cases of Denmark, the US and New Jersey.
Of the previous we see that the three cases are comparable in that they all have labor un-
ions with an antagonistic relation towards the state, who have considered forming or en-
gaging in a labor-based party. Besides New Jersey is evidently a part of the US but on the
superficial level more of the size of Denmark, why it may experience some of the same
dynamics. In general I therefore expect to see dynamics of industrialization, urbanization,
migration and state formation shift the possibilities of action over time for all the cases,
as well as the strategies and support to the labor-based parties and unions form the actors
from within.

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Labor-­‐based
party
and
union
dynamics
Through the analysis below I will use the census data from Logue and Voss as evidence.
(thousands
and % of
population)
England* United States Denmark
Year 1851 1891 1850 1890 1870 1920
Wage earners
in manufac-
toring
3.612 5.408
(50% in-
crease)
1200 4.390
(266 %
increase
24 % 29 %
(21 %
increase)
Immigrants %
of population
4,7 2,3 9,7 14,7
Urbanization
%
40.8 53,7 11,3 27,7
(245 %
increase)
25, 0
(1850 =
21)
43
(1890 =
33)
( 172 %)
Wage earners
% in agricul-
ture
22.0 9.0 64.0 38.0
(41 %
decrease)
54.0 32.0
(41 %
decrease)
* England is mentioned as a relevant comparison due to the unavailable data for some aspects, e .g. immigration in Denmark
(Logue 1982: 60, 62; Voss, 1993: 50)
State
formation
Who is in power and where are the located? Basically, the period is characterized by
mass industrialization and urbanization and an intense shift in state power. The section
will show that the sequence of events and the particular first-past-the-post electoral sys-
tem show persistent similarities across time and case (Dahl, 57: 2003).
State
and
capitalist
class
power
equilibrium
In contrast to many other scholars perception the American workers speak and identify
the capitalist and employer instead of the state as the source of their oppression. As
Marks & Lipset note a common misunderstanding is to perceive the American wage
earners as distinctively individualistic or socialism as against American value (Marks &
Lipset, 2001: 22; Voss, 1992: 45). The deliberate and widely use of violence by state but

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also plantation owners and the emerging industrial and capitalist elites were means to
control labor and establish a social order different from the one in Denmark. The public
condemnation of strikes and unions from 1880 in popular journals and newspaper illus-
trates the antagonism between capitalism and labor, which under these circumstances
were framed as the “social question” (Voss, 1992: 76).
An alternative hypothesis to Duverger’s law would say that strong labor-based parties
could not emerge in countries, where the bourgeoisie had formed its party and was al-
ready greatly represented in governmental and labor relations. Though, this is exactly
what happened in Denmark, where the labor party allied with the peasant against the
bourgeois party, the Right (who in 1916 turned into the Conservative). In US the Demo-
crats possessed a distinctive sophistication to absorb radical protest and the government
effectively shattered prospective solidarity among labor-based and socialist voters (Lipset
& Marks, 2001: 37). Employers
and
workers
face
some
of
the
same
obstacles
to
or-­‐
ganize;
the
environment
was
competitive
and
suspicious
against
each
others
mo-­‐
tives
and
they
were
divided
internally among skilled and unskilled and large and small
employers (Voss, 1993: 223).
The labor-based parties and unions in US could alternatively better organize on a com-
munity and state level and engage in party politics as a supplementary activity. But the
impact was limited, because the electoral system prioritized the winner and the two exist-
ing parties (Voss, 1993: 246). The employer organizations evolved at the same time as
the unions in the US, whereas the Danish employee organization evolved later and thus
adopts a more negotiating and less violence pattern of action.

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Industrialization
and
urbanization
The Bull-Galenson hypothesis proposes that the speed of industrialization correlates with
and influences socialist radicalism (Rogue, 1982: 58f). We see a enormous 266 % in-
crease in manufacturing wage earners in the US 1850-1890 but only a slightly 21 % in-
crease for Denmark in the later period 1870-1920, where data was available. The organi-
zation of labor unions and the Social Democratic Party in Denmark, and the AFL,
Knights of Labor and the marginal socialist parties can be interpreted as radicalized so-
cialist material manifestations, but they tend to appear in both cases and for the period
even stronger in the case of Denmark with the lowest increase. Tentatively, thus the Bull-
Galenson hypothesis is unable to explain the different outcome, as the hypothesis would
have expected US socialist radicalization to rise. A more literate reading of the Bull-
Galenson thesis and more supportive for the American case is that socialist radicalism
have increased but in an oppositional and dogmatic manner. As supportive evidence for
this we see the unfriendly relationship amongst labor unions and parties and the syndical-
ist and violence tensions in labor unions. The pronounced specialization in the US but
also the small- and medium-sized industries in Denmark are also factors that might influ-
ence the experience of commonality and solidarity among workers (Voss, 1993: 249).
The reduction in agricultural wage earners over the period follows the same pattern in
Denmark and USA, and tends to diminish probability over time for rural wage earners to
organize due to decreasing density.
We can also see a more rapidly urban increase from 11,3 to 27,7 % in US and a Danish in
absolute terms higher urban population from 25 to 43 % during the same period. In this
regard the ability to organize and mobilize for urban dwellers increase drastically. Since

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Denmark has a higher baseline, we expect the country to reach a critical threshold earlier.
On the other hand, scholars have emphasized the anomie and radical changing condition
as a key concept of urbanization (Logue, 61: 1982). A lower baseline but a more intense
urbanization in percentages can lead to new beliefs and labor-based organizations. The
case of New Jersey with a distinctive high urbanization for the US also shows that urban-
ization also give the employers better means to counter mobilize. So forth, the population
threshold hypothesis and urban working class density or the rapid urbanization are two
competing explanations that tend to prioritize the conditions respectively in Denmark and
the US strengthening labor-based parties and unions.
Inclusionary
and
exclusionary
strategies
Exclusionary and inclusionary unions represent and mediate their members’ interest by
different means. Exclusive unions tend to represent their members conditions through
social closure mechanism limiting the inflow of others worker on their job territory.
While inclusive unions tend to mobilize large numbers to pressure and gain political
presentation (Marks & Lipset, 2001: 88). This typology can to a certain extend also effec-
tively evaluate the different strategic trade-offs for parties and unions to maintain an
identity and privileged position or engage in compromises and alliances, which the fol-
lowing two sections will unfold.
Density
of
membership,
support
and
identity
After the Civil War around 1875 the working condition changes rapidly under intense
industrialization and the cleavage among skilled and unskilled workers begins to con-
verge. So one of the pivotal obstacles to “homogenize” and establish an inclusive labor
unions diminishes (Voss, 1993: 52, 62).

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As the previous table shows the proportion of immigrants is higher in US than England
and any other European country including Denmark. Archer (2006) hypothesizes that
ethnoracial cleavages can create racism, and therefore is weak cause for solidarity among
the included workers group and not a strong cause for divide in the US. Moreover, Voss
finds that the ethnoracial cleavages do not impact the intensity of new organizations in
the Knights of Labor (1993: 162). But if the ethnoracial and skilled/unskilled cleavage
converge, which we can find evidence for happens as the AFL pursue an exclusionary
and apolitical strategy, the interactional effect can exacerbate the heterogeneity and pre-
vent solidarity and organizational intensity. This might create a very different identity
and mutual support as we see in Denmark, where the different crafts are organized to-
gether on a community level.
As Voss cites Marks and argues, inclusionary unions in the 20th
century find other means
to compensate a distinctive weak labor-market power position without power to control
labor supply. Instead, they pursue extensive political regulation, minimum wages and
maximum hours for the members often through political campaigning and party influence
(Voss, 1993: 247). As the Knights of Labor is overpowered the strategy changes, and in-
stead the AFL pursues an exclusionary strategy and limits the relationship towards exist-
ing parties and a third potential labor-based party.
The difference in union density had influence on the bargaining power. Some skilled oc-
cupational sectors were completely organized by 1890, and Denmark was the European
country with highest unionized density in 1910 (Logue, 1982: 33). For comparison the
Knights of Labor organized between 13 and 15 % of the manufacturing workers in New
Jersey (Voss, 1993: 131). The lower density of American labor unions affected the un-

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ion’s ability to negotiate and situated them with difficult opportunities to expand. Diver-
gent, we see the Danish labor union uses its position to codify a Basic Agreement with
the employer organization in 1899, which after intense conflict settled the basic rules and
recognition of the employers right to manage and the union’s right to organize and nego-
tiate (Logue, 1982: 63f).
Reciprocal
labor-­‐based
party
and
union
support
As mentioned 1886 in US was a memorable year both for the labor unions and emerging
labor-based and socialist parties, which ended up with the organizational death of the
Knights of Labor and the labor-based parties following a chain of strikes and the bomb-
ing of more than 70 injured policemen in Chicago (Voss, 1993: 78). Only the AFL sur-
vived the repercussion from elite classes in the 1880s and 90s (2006, Archer: 14). The
aftermath leads to a decisive moment with intense conflict, where a majority of AFL sup-
ported a program boosting the small farmers in the People’s Party. As we see this adop-
tion is similar to the strategy that the Social Democrats in Denmark pursue to ally with
the peasants and the Liberal Party and enforce in an electoral pact. However, Gompers,
the president of AFL until 1924, opposes the program and even though he due to his posi-
tion is not elected for one year, the proposal is outvoted and his power subsequently rein-
forced. The momentum disappears inevitable as the conservative wing gain control of the
People’s Party, and the party merges with the Democrats in 1896 (Archer, 2006: 15).
In Denmark the linkage between Social Democrats and the labor union, LO, grows and
becomes more integrated during the first part of the 20th
century. The integration results
that the aggregate labor-based movement could achieve political objectives in parliament
additionally to strikes (though they tended to be less frequent than in the US due to other

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political options) and negotiations with employers. But it also leads to political and min-
ister recruitment through the union and an integration to comparative organs in the state
(Logue, 1982: 129).
The strategy from AFL was continuously framed as a nonpartisan stand rewarding labor’s
friends and punishing its enemies, but nonetheless they in some phases supported the
Democrats and presidential candidates, as Wilson, because they appeared to be more re-
sponsive and supportive for the principles of labor (Dulles & Dubofsky, 1993: 186). State
legislation in labor relations lagged behind the European standard, because of the distinc-
tive anti-state attitude in union and among employers (Voss: 1993: 45). As we can see it
was more Gompers and the AFL than the American worker in general, who had an anti-
state attitude, which since the inception of the constitution and the electoral system for a
long while have been considered part of the American political culture. But on the other
hand this was also a dynamic oppositional reaction to the US intellectual and idealistic
socialism practiced far away from mainstream community and workplaces (Lipset &
Marks, 2001: 37).

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Summary
of
the
dynamics
for
labor-­‐base
parties
and
unions
in
1880-­‐1920
Denmark USA New Jersey
State and capital-
ist class power
equilibrium
The labor-based
party and union rise
fast and gain influ-
ence on state
Labor and employer
organizations emerge
simultaneously. The
deliberate use of vio-
lence from state but
also capitalist class
enforced social con-
trol and limited labor
unions.
Dense employer or-
ganizations and en-
terprises are closely
related to court and
state
Industrialization
and urbanization
The urbanized
threshold can reach
a critical limit
where worker’s
consciousness and
solidarity emerge.
The electoral pact
with the peasant
solidify influence
Rapidly industrializa-
tion and urbanization
establish precondi-
tions for labor-based
parties and unions to
rise
Higher industrializa-
tion also causes
higher employer
counter mobiliza-
tion, why the case
does not differ from
the general US pat-
tern.
Density of mem-
bership, support
and identity
Workers are were
very dense orga-
nized and establish
links among craft,
industries and
partiy in one organ-
ization
The fall of the Knights
of Labor and the dom-
inant exclusionary la-
bor union strategy
prevent political and
direct party influence.
Socialist and la-
bor party support
Linkage in-between
the labor-based un-
ion and party ex-
pand the possible
strategies for labor-
based action
AFL keeps a position
not to support a labor-
based party and em-
phasizes on a no parti-
san and labor-near ap-
proach

20. Malte
Nyfos
Mathiasen
University
of
California
at
Berkeley
Jerome
Karabel
20
Conclusion
and
discussion
Through the analysis we see that the Danish labor union did not face as harsh oppression
from state and capitalist classes and that the situation seldom ended as violent as in the
US. The state formation differs in that the Danish labor union manages to bypass Duver-
ger’s law in the first-past-the-post electoral system by a pact with the peasants. Some-
thing similar never happens in the US, and a potential labor-based party never solidifies,
though the period with intense industrialization and urbanization establishes the neces-
sary preconditions. I consider the implication of urbanization to be ambiguous, because
the density of workers and anomie among them interact and create a counter mobilization
among capitalists classes. The effect of cleavages along skilled/unskilled, migration and
industries can affect the experience of communality and support in labor unions but vary
in how they are used and formed strategically by the unions. The fall of the Knight of La-
bor and the rise of AFL amplify the exclusionary strategy in the US, and as AFL chooses
a path without a labor-based and socialist party, the constraints grow to strong for a third
labor-based party to rise. Instead the AFL occasionally supports the Democrats and the
US becomes an exception from the pattern of action in Europe.
Visibly, there are functional and normative consequences of the strategies from labor-
based parties and unions. The formal linkage in Denmark between LO and the Social
Democrats today still causes disputable dependency, centralization and ineligibility, but
through the analysis I consider that the exclusionary and apolitical strategy of AFL also
has consequences. While I understand that this argument is normative, I hope that the
reader can ignore this and consider how the different strategies contributes to the same
mechanism and leads the a strong labor-based party in Denmark by 1920 but not in the

21. Malte
Nyfos
Mathiasen
University
of
California
at
Berkeley
Jerome
Karabel
21
US context.
The analysis lacks important information that can have a determinant impact on the la-
bor-based parties and unions. E.g. the comparative unemployment, income and union
density can inform about the relative strength of union and their members situation that
influences their boundaries of action. The chosen historical approach faces a challenge,
because sampling of cases and factors are limited by the availability of data or a good
proxy estimate, and especially the older comparative data is fragile and unreliably pro-
duced.

22. Malte
Nyfos
Mathiasen
University
of
California
at
Berkeley
Jerome
Karabel
22
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