PATHWAYS OF DOMINANCE AND DISPLACEMENT The Varying Fates of Legacy Unions in New Democracies

Legacy unions-formerly state-backed unions that survived democratic transitions-are one of the most persistent legacies of authoritarian rule. While usually successful in maintaining their preeminent position, legacy unions have in some cases been overtaken by competing unions. Deploying a set of paired comparisons of legacy unions that entered the transition with similar legacies but experienced different fates-Indonesia with South Korea and Poland with Russia-this article examines why some legacy unions continued to dominate (Indonesia and Russia) and others did not (South Korea and Poland). The author identifies four pathways of change: endurance (Indonesia), attrition (South Korea), hegemony (Russia), and rupture (Poland). Several features of the transition context propelled legacy unions down distinct pathways of change-the widespread mobilization of workers outside of state-sponsored unions early in the transition, partisan links, and the structure of union competition.