"Institutional" Theory and a New Private "Club": Court Enforcement of Union Fines

In England and in the United States the association of working men in labor unions has been traditionally legally analyzed in terms of "contract." The hypothesis considered here is that recent developments in American labor law make it timely for purposes of administrative law, at least, to discard the legal analysis of the labor association as a "contract" among members, and to substitute a theory of "institution" as more in accord with the existing facts. The adoption of such an analysis would open up a new field of administrative law, one that sociologists (more frequently than lawyers) have referred to as "private government." I. Some Relevant “Institutional” Themes … A. The Distinction between “Internal” and “External” Affairs … B. Internal Affairs … C. External Affairs … D. Personalist Implications II. The Legislative Background III. Union Fines and Allis-Chalmers: Background and Facts: Theories and Issues … A. Background on Union Fines … B. Allis-Chalmers: The Facts … C. In the Administrative Tribunal: NLRB Proceedings … D. In the Courts IV. Hauriou’s Approach to the Problem of Allis-Chalmers v. NLRB … A. Criticism of What Was Done by the Court … B. Putting the “True” Issues in Focus … C. Hauriou’s Criteria for Dealing with the Question of Policy … D. Criticism of the Effectiveness of Other Approaches