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Reaching for a New Deal: The Failure of Labor Law Reform
Professor Dorian Warren, in a paper published in October 2010, follows the first two years of the Obama administration and its attempts at labor law reform. The paper is presented as part of the Russell Sage Foundation’s series Reaching for a New Deal: President Obama's Agenda and the Dynamics of U.S. Politics.
The failure of major legislation can be traced to party politics and divisions among the Democrats themselves. Professor Warren’s paper, “The Unsurprising Failure of Labor Law Reform and the Turn to Administrative Action,” examines several policy shifts achieved by the White House through the Department of Labor and the executive branch.
Professor Warren argues “that several long-term institutional and political obstacles present throughout 20th century American politics, including the geographical concentration of labor, the conservative coalition in Congress, combined with antimajoritarian features of the American state, continued to be insurmountable for the labor movement.”
But “…President Obama has advanced some labor policy reforms through administrative politics – appointments and rulemaking…”.
Professor Warren will continue examining labor policy reforms and initiatives through 2012.
Alex Burnett, 10/19/2010