ABSTRACT
An analysis of the structure of British trade unionism inevitably raises fundamental questions about the internal organization of the unions themselves. The fundamental problem which the decision-making arrangements, both formal and informal, of every trade union are designed to resolve is that of ‘how to combine administrative efficiency with popular control’. The theory draws attention to the role in union government of the three democratic concepts of election, representation and mandate. One way of reducing the risk that a union will fall into the hands of oligarchs is to erect constitutional barriers against the concentration of power. A cynic might argue that the vast majority of union members only begin to think about the way in which their organization is being run and implicitly question the quality of their leaders when the union conspicuously fails to meet their legitimate aspirations.
