Labour Politics in Small Open Democracies: Australia, Chile, Ireland, New Zealand and Uruguay

Paul G. Buchanan and Kate Nicholls explore the political and economic fortunes of organised labour in five small open democracies between 1975 and 2000. Of particular interest is the role of labour market institutions, organisational histories, and trade union ideologies in shaping outcomes under conditions of economic liberalisation. The book includes a theoretical and methodological introduction, followed by individual discussions of Australia and Chile, and New Zealand and Uruguay, grouped a cross-regional pairs, and Ireland as an extra-regional and atypical case.