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All of the major market economies of East Asia have developed institutional arrangements through which business associations, labor unions, and other major types of associations maintain close relationships with the state. During the stage in which these were emerging economies, the state dominated this relationship in an arrangement known as “state corporatism.” But with democratization, Japan’s, Taiwan’s, and South Korea’s business associations and unions came more under the influence their members, and a new balance in relations with the state emerged in an arrangement known as “societal corporatism.” In China, which is still in transition from the status of an emerging economy, the state continues to dominate associations. The purpose of this paper is to explore the situation in China and to analyze whether the government is likely to maintain its dominance in future decades over powerful economic constituencies and their associations.

The historical transition from state corporatism to societal corporatist practices in East Asia is discussed on the basis of available English-language literature. This forms the framework for an analysis of China, based largely upon on-site research and Chinese-language writings. The paper includes case studies of China’s two major business associations.

The paper finds that China’s controls over business associations using state corporatist techniques are likely to persist in coming decades, due to the government’s vigilance in warding off any transition to members’ influence and societal corporatism.

The influence of the state on businesses and unions and on business associations affects the operations of these vival economic institutions as well as the shaping of government policies.

To understand relations between business associations and governments in East Asia, especially China, it is necessary to come to grips with the concept and practices of corporatism. This paper uses a comparative perspective to illuminate trends in the region’s capitalist countries and to cast new light on China.

In the British social formation, especially after 1960, there has been a tendency towards an external mode of control of industrial relations which is based upon the internal regulation of labour collectivities. The article argues that corporatism and hegemony are both inextricably linked facets of the same process — the ideological control of the IR system, embodying both corporate agencies and hegemonic relations, by a state which has various forms.

Seeks to highlight the range of potential benefits flowing from neo‐corporatism. Profiles some of the principle critiques of the neo‐liberal orthodoxy followed by a more detailed review of the benefits in terms of limiting inflation, generating employment, promoting greater social equity, reducing the incidence of industrial conflict and providing the basis for a more stable growth trajectory. Considers the area where evidence is lacking and uses previous research for its evidence.

Public relations professionals frequently maintain that public relations is different in governmental organisations than in corporations, associations and not‐for‐profit organisations. Textbooks commonly include separate chapters on government public relations; and some universities in the USA teach separate courses on government communication programmes. Most public relations theorists, however, have not constructed separate theories of public relations for government. In this paper, the authors theorise that the principles of public relations for government are the same as for other types of organisation, but that the specific conditions to which the principles must be applied are different. Research has shown, however, that governmental organisations are more likely than other organisations to practice a public information model of public relations and less likely to engage in two‐way communication. The authors suggest theoretically that governmental organisations, especially in the USA, are more likely to practice one‐way, information‐based communication programmes because of a pluralistic view of government. In countries where government is based more on a societal corporatist view, organisations are more likely to practice strategic, two‐way communication. This paper analyses the information policies of Canada and Norway as examples. It concludes with the proposition that strategic, symmetrical public relations requires an agency to view its relationship with publics from a societal corporatist perspective rather than from a pluralistic perspective.

To demonstrate how government policy on fires service reform was initially challenged by a stubbornly resistant fire service corporatism but finally dismantled following the 2003 fire service White Paper.

The paper is based on longitudinal case study data that includes 50 semi‐structured interviews with key fire service personnel at regional and national levels.

This paper examines the roots of corporatism at national and local levels and demonstrates how the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) had significant levels of influence on management decision‐making. This was strongly reflected in the key role of the FBU in the industrial relations process that enabled the union to protect “entrenched” working practices. However, at a local level longstanding corporatist partnerships began to break down as a financial crisis arose and management took a more proactive approach. Corporatist structures at a national level, though, remained and it was not until the Labour government's second term of office that these national structures were overhauled following a White Paper and legislation.

This paper demonstrates that whilst fire service management has consolidated its position under the Labour administration it has proved a disaster for the FBU.

Joseph A. Schumpeter advocated a corporatist principle of economic organization enunciated by Pius XI in the encyclical Quadragesimo Anno. Schumpeter insisted that a corporatism of associations could provide social leadership and economic co‐ordination to ensure a stable, high employment economy, while maintaining individual freedom. To implement a corporatist system, moral reform would be necessary. Recently, economists have asserted that post‐war Japan approximates to Schumpeter′s corporatist model. Suggests that Japan′s post‐war economy is in conflict with two of the fundamental features of Schumpeter′s corporatism. First, the problem of resource allocation is often solved by bureaucratic intervention rather than by co‐ordination by private producers. Second, Japanese morals and ethics emphasize group efforts rather than Schumpeter′s requisite individual egoistic ethic. Concludes that the practicality of Schumpeter′s corporatism is not substantiated by post‐war Japan.

The results of the elections of July 2, 2000 that defeated the Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI) for the first time in history may open a new stage in the relations between trade unions and a state ridden with uncertainties. This is evidenced by the behavior of some of the main trade union leaders in Mexico after July 2: erratic behavior; attempts at alliances that would have been unthinkable in the past; and flirting with the presidency. It is the leadership, the strength of the confederations, which is at stake. The powerful may weaken and those who have been marginalized may enter the fray. Other actors, the workers, however, have remained in the background for years. Attention must be paid to them. For the workers, since the early 1980s, neoliberalism has meant reductions in wages and contract benefits, large personnel cut-backs, the disarticulation of the “old working class,” and the emergence of a “new working class” in the maquila. In other words, labor has been restructured in part through modernizing production.

In the context of debates on the role of social partners in shaping anti-crisis policies, the article explores the developments of social dialogue in Poland following the outbreak of the pandemic. The central research question is whether the crisis has helped to revitalise social dialogue or has it further revealed its weaknesses that were apparent before it.

The paper is based on the combination of literature review and the analysis of primary data derived from 22 expert interviews with the representatives of trade unions, employers and ministries collected in 2020–2021 in four essential industries (education, health care, social care and logistics).

The analysis suggests that the pandemic led to reinforcement of “illusory corporatism” in Poland, deepened mistrust among social partners and triggered a shift to informal channels of influencing policymaking. The weakness of the social partners and the strong position of the right-wing populist government meant that fears of recession and a health crisis were insufficient to develop “crisis” corporatism. While business interests were represented better than labour in policymaking, limited labour-friendly outcomes have been achieved as a result of workers’ mobilisation and unilateral decisions of the government rather than tripartite social dialogue.

Based on original empirical research, the article contributes to the discussion on the impact of the crisis on social dialogue under patchwork capitalism. It points to the role of strong governments and informality in circumventing tripartite structures and the importance of essential workers’ mobilisation in response to the lack of social dialogue.

The purpose of this paper is to reconstruct the development of industrial relations (IR) in Spain since the democratic transition and analyses the current dilemmas of its social and political actors in the context of the long-lasting economic downturn.

Combining a political economy, identifying Spain as a particular variety of modern capitalism, and actor-centred historical institutionalism approach, outlining the formation and strategies of the main social actors, the paper draws on the broad range of research on IR in Spain and its theoretical debates, including proper research in the field.

The legacies of the latecomer industrialisation and the semi-peripheral development model still shape the Spanish economy and IR. The impact of the current economic and political-institutional crisis affects the entire institutional IR system and its actors shifting power towards the individual employer thus weakening trade unions, labour rights and collective bargaining. Regarding the theoretical debate on corporatism, the Spanish case provides ambiguous results. The lack of a coherent institutional system and efficient political administration limits the effectiveness of corporatist arrangements and reduces them to contingent concertation strategies. Spain confirms that IR still largely depend on the specific national variety of capitalism that condition economic development and resources for political exchange.

The paper presents an original, theoretical-informed reconstruction of the Spanish IR and allows an understanding of the current institutional transformations and strategic dilemmas in the light of historical legacies. Additionally, the theoretical debates on neo-corporatism and semi-peripheral development are enriched through its application to the Spanish case.