Economic Transformation and Institutional Change: A Cross-national Study in the Conversion of Union Structures and Politics in Eastern Europe

Abstract: This paper investigates the transformation of union structures and politics in a cross-national perspective. Employing rational choice theory, the paper's analytical part first elaborates the specific modes and contradictions of interest intermediation and related union structures under Stalinism. Second, a convergence hypothesis on the transformation of union structures and politics in the context of marketization, is put forward. Based on empirical evidence from the transformation in five countries, this hypothesis is examined and the future prospects for the unions' structure and politics in post-socialist societies are discussed.;