In some western European countries, trade unions and employers' organizations share responsibility with government for maintaining order and efficiency in the labor market as a matter of course. In other countries, such a role is seen as an unacceptable interference with either the free market or the prerogatives of the state, or both. This original and wide-ranging book sets out to explain these differences and assess their significance. Crouch draws on a combination of rational choice theory and historical analysis to consider the development of industrial relations systems in fifteen countries since the 1870s. Seeking explanations for differences further back in time, the author shows that longer-term historical explanations of contemporary institutions are more necessary than most exercises in policy analysis prefer to accept.