Workplace Politics: How Politicians and Employers Subvert Elections by TIMOTHY FRYE, ORA JOHN REUTER, AND DAVID SZAKONYI
In many countries politicians rely on employers to influence the voting behavior of their employees, but this type of voter mobilization is remarkably understudied. Workplace Mobilization: How Politicians and Employers Subvert Elections draws on unique surveys of firm managers and employees in eight countries, as well as a wealth of fine-grained observational data and qualitative interviews from Russia to demonstrate that workplace mobilization is common, often coercive, and unpopular with many voters. It argues that when firm managers depend on the state, cannot easily move their assets, or can easily replace workers, politicians can induce employers to get their workers to the polls. In these settings, politicians and employers can use workplace mobilization to diminish voter autonomy, undermine electoral integrity, and skew electoral outcomes in favor of entrenched political groups.
About the Columbia Author
Timothy Frye is the Marshall D. Shulman Professor of Post-Soviet Foreign Policy. His research and teaching interests are in comparative politics and political economy with a focus on the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
About the Speakers
V. Page Fortna is the Harold Brown Professor of U.S. Foreign and Security Policy and Chair in the Department of Political Science. Her research focuses on terrorism, the international politics of climate change, the durability of peace in the aftermath of both civil and interstate wars, and war termination.
Alexander Hertel-Fernandez is the Herbert Lehman Professor of Government in the Faculty of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. His teaching and research focus on understanding the intersection between politics and markets in the United States, the politics of policy design, and labor policy.
John D. Huber is a Professor of Political Science and teaches and conducts research with a focus on the comparative study of democratic processes.
Jessica Pisano is Professor of Politics at The New School for Social Research. She writes and teaches about contemporary and twentieth century politics and political economy in Eastern Europe.
To join us, please register here. This event is organized by ISERP and co-sponsored by the Society of Fellows and the Heyman Center for Humanities, the Department of Political Science, and the Harriman Institute.
