On Mon, 11 Nov 2002 14:40:14 -0800 (PST) andie nachgeborenen
<andie_nachgeborenen at yahoo.com> writes:
> Why is French union density so low, and why does it
> have a social democratic welfare state despite that,
> which, if we had it, would make us think thatthe
> revolution was over and we'd won? jks
>
> >
>
I wouldn't pretend to know the full answer but I would think that it might have had something to do with the fact that France for a good many years did have a very strong Communist Party, which had a strong base within the trade unions. And for many years the Communists enjoyed a great deal of prestige because of their role in the Resistance during WW II.
It is also interesting to note that while the foundations for the French social democratic welfare state were first laid by Leon Blum's Popular Front government in the mid-1930s, the French welfare state was really built up during the 1960s under President Charles De Gaulle, who was perhaps doing a Bismarck in order to keep the Communists in check.
Jim F.
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