Exhibit 1177 ยท Journal article
Breaking the Iron Law of Oligarchy: Union Revitalization in the American Labor Movement
This article addresses the question of how social movement organizations are able to break out of bureaucratic conservatism.
Compares U.S. union locals that changed their goals and tactics with those that did not and finds three triggers: a political crisis bringing new leadership, leaders with outside activist experience, and pressure from the international union. Abstract read (OpenAlex).
- Source
- Voss and Sherman, American Journal of Sociology 106(2):303-349
- Date
- September 2000
- Quoted from
- Abstract
- Grade
- Peer-reviewed
- Document
- https://doi.org/10.1086/316963
- Accessed
- 2026-11-10
- Cited by
- Findings citing this exhibit
- Note
- Standing note: qualitative comparison, interview-based. Confirms the exceptions to Michels are crisis-driven and externally supported, which fits the page's "what breaks it" list.