FROM CORPORATISM TO ETATISM - THE STRUCTU RE OF LABOR INTEREST INTERMEDIATION BEFORE AND AFTER THE GERMAN UNIFICATION

Following the ''Konzertierte Aktion'' of the 1970s German government i ntends to coordinate its labor policy by establishing an ''Alliance fo r Labor'' between government, employers and employees. However, a succ ess of the Alliance for Labor presupposes a corporatist pattern of int erest mediation consisting of peak organizations of the governmental, employer and employee sector. In this paper the pattern of labor inter est mediation before and after unification is analyzed when comparing the relationships of more than 100 relevant labor organizations. The m ain results indicate a pattern of corporatist before and of etatist in terest mediation after German unification. Due to the present politica l situation of different party majorities in the Bundestag and Bundesr at, administrative actors control the access channels to Labor policy makers. At the same time, employee and employer peak organizations los t their monopolies of sector representation. Since neither governmenta l actors nor private organizations are able to dominate their function al sector, we do not expect a successful ''Alliance for Labor'' after unification.