Workplace Democracy Research Articles (Page 1)

ABSTRACT Governments around the world have implemented digital channels of participation in recent years, but the policy effects of these new forms of participatory democracy remain unclear. Focusing on a well-known online petition platform in Taiwan, I ask: when, and under what conditions, can citizens influence the government’s policymaking process through digital democracy initiatives? By analyzing a dataset of 262 petitions, conducting interviews with government officials and citizens, and examining publicly available documents and meeting transcripts, I argue that the policy domains in which petitions are situated significantly shape policy outcomes. Specifically, citizens are more likely to succeed if their demands are located within relatively ‘open’ policy domains – those characterized by the constant emergence of new issues – or within ‘collaborative’ policy domains, where major interest groups share a common policy agenda with the government. Conversely, in ‘adversarial’ domains marked by conflicts between the government and social groups, or in ‘technocratic’ domains where decision-making is dominated by experts, citizens are unlikely to influence policies even within the context of innovative digital initiatives. These findings illuminate the potential and constraints in novel forms of digital governance, contributing to the research on government responsiveness and participatory democracy in the digital age.

As democracy is often described as government of the people, by the people, and for the people, determining who constitutes ‘the people’ is essential for the working of democracy. Somewhat surprisingly, only populists have embraced this term as a regular part of their rhetoric. This begs the question: Who are/should be the people who hold power and are represented? No research has yet empirically established how citizens conceptualise the people or how this relates to their representation preferences. This study argues that citizens’ worldview explains how they conceptualise the people. Specifically, it expects a combination of populist attitudes, ideological leaning, and features of the concrete person to affect inclusion or exclusion. Using a conjoint experiment (N = 2,174) fielded in the Netherlands, this study explores conceptions of the people among populist and non-populist citizens, as well as how these conceptions affect their representation preferences. The findings suggest that populist citizens have a more exclusionary conception of the people, and left-wing populist citizens are more inclusionary than their right-wing counterparts. These differences directly translate into preferences regarding whose interests citizens consider sufficiently represented and whose are not.

Although equality and nondiscrimination constitute the main principles of liberal democracy, democracies produce a diversity of social identities that are sensitive to discrimination and simultaneously challenge their legitimacy. This study examines the relationship between membership in groups discriminated against and satisfaction with the way democracy works (SWD). An analysis of the ESS Round 5–9 data from 18 countries has shown that the percentage of individuals identified with discriminated groups has grown between 2010 and 2018. Although the prevalence of members of groups discriminated against varies between countries, they express lower SWD than members of the majority across all the studied countries. Among members of discriminated groups, SWD is significantly affected by political orientation and political engagement.

Abstract Ideology usually refers to a set of ideas, values, and a world-view which can shape the thoughts and actions of individuals and wider society. It has an influence on social structures, economics, andpolitics. Karl Marx defined ideology as a set of ideas and beliefs that are manipulative and convincing on the surface level, but are not actually true-what he called false consciousness. He created this concept to explain how the ruling class justifies their elite status through the socio cultural beliefs they spread in society. Actually an ideologyis a set of opinion/belief of a group or an individual.Very often ideology refers to a set of optical beliefs or a set of ideas that characterize a particular culture. Monarchism, feudalism, imperialism, capitalism, Nazism, fascism, totalitarianism, utilitarianism, liberalism, communism, socialism, Marxism etc. are some of the ideologies on which socio-political life of mankind have been based. Liberalism and Marxism are two schools of thought which have left deep imprints in sociological, political and economic theory. They are usually perceived as opposite, rival approaches.In the field of democracy there is a seemingly insurmountable rift around the question of political versus economic democracy. Liberals emphasize the former, Marxists the latter. Liberals say that economic democracy is too abstract and fuzzy a concept, therefore one should concentrate on the workings of an objective political democracy. Marxists insist that political democracy without economic democracy is insufficient. The article argues that both propositions are valid and not mutually exclusive. It proposes the creation of an operational, quantifiable index of economic democracy that can be used along side the already existing indexes of political democracy. By using these two indexes jointly, political and economic democracy can be objectively evaluated.Thus, there quirements of both camps are met and may be a more dialogical approach to democracy can be reached in the debate between liberals and Marxists. The joint index is used to evaluate the levels of economic and political democracy in the transition countries of Eastern Europe.

Competitive elections that are free and fair are the bedrock of stable representative democracies. In this critical moment, in which there is an increase of democratic decline across states, it is imperative to (re‐)examine fundamental democratic processes, like elections. In addition to citizens, politicians are key actors in the electoral process. Politicians can influence the views of citizens, make changes within political institutions, and contribute to democratic breakdown or backsliding. Therefore, understanding their views about the way democracy works is crucial. While there has been a recent increase in the scholarship on politicians’ perceptions and behaviours, it has not yet considered whether aspects of the electoral process might affect politicians’ democratic satisfaction. Furthermore, while the literature on citizens’ democratic satisfaction is well‐established, our understanding of politicians’ satisfaction with democracy (SWD) is not. This article begins to address these gaps in the scholarship on SWD and politicians by examining whether electoral integrity and the characteristics of electoral management bodies influence politicians’ levels of SWD. By analyzing cross‐national data from The Comparative Candidates Survey covering 49 elections, in 21 countries, from 2005 to 2021, this article highlights three key findings: first, while electoral integrity affects levels of politicians’ SWD, it matters more for politicians who lost the election. Second, electoral management bodies’ independence does not affect politicians’ levels of SWD. Third, while electoral management bodies’ capacity influences politicians’ levels of democratic satisfaction, the strength of the effect differs for politicians on the ideological right and left. The implications of these findings are explained in the article.

Elections are the pivotal political institution used to confer legitimacy in almost all states. Decision making on election policy is usually elite-driven and top-down in nature. This article applies the concept of workplace democracy, originally proposed by Carole Pateman, to explore the voices of poll workers involved in delivering elections on the ground. Theories of workplace democracy argue participation should not be limited to the ballot box, but should also include other voices with views on how an organisation is run. The article uses original data from poll workers who implemented an important election policy reform – voter identification – at the first countrywide English elections that made this a formal requirement. It explores their views about how the electoral process could be improved. It argues that poll workers’ perspectives are important to facilitate bottom-up policy design and learning – and to detect democratic defects. Poll workers reported virtually no suspected cases of personation, although this was no different to previous elections. Voter identification did, however, restrict legitimate participation, particularly of women. Poll workers made several suggestions for improving the voter experience. Listening to these voices provides an important input to strengthen electoral democracy with bottom-up voices contributing to the design of political institutions.

Abstract This article analyzes satisfaction with democracy among legislators in Latin America by centering on the impact of institutional settings. Our dataset contains 2,448 interviews from 17 countries between 2009 and 2022. The results of our multilevel logistic regression analysis underscore the significance of institutions, highlighting that perceptions of opportunities for participation in the legislative agenda‐setting process increase legislators' satisfaction with the way democracy works. Nonetheless, institutional variables shape the satisfaction of winners (legislators close to governing parties) and losers (opposition) in different ways. Presidential legislative powers stand out as a key factor that reduces satisfaction for losers. Conversely, legislative fragmentation decreases winners' satisfaction with democracy.

This article explores female blue-collar workers’ professional positions and integration into workplace democracy within the self-managed industry in socialist Yugoslavia. Drawing on an extensive analysis of contemporary reports archived by Yugoslavia’s central women’s organisation, the article explores female blue-collar workers’ professional qualifications and participation in worker education programmes and worker councils – Yugoslavia’s self-managed industry’s core democratic body. The article aims to shows that the prevailing gender and class-based social order within Yugoslav industry hindered female workers’ professional advancement and representation in workplace democracy, perpetuating their secondary status, which was manifested through poor representation in workplace democracy and predominantly low professional qualifications.

Abstract A series of studies show that unions and works councils have an influence on workers’ political activities and attitudes. However, at issue are the transmission channels through which worker representation impacts workers’ political activities and attitudes. This article discusses from a theoretical and empirical viewpoint whether the influence of worker representation reflects increased workplace democracy. The article also discusses possible policy implications.

Abstract Traditional versions of workplace democracy imply that the decisions in which workers should have a say primarily concern governance issues. Worker cooperatives are, therefore, often cited as some of the most promising examples of workplace democracy. In this paper, I argue that a comprehensive and fully developed theory of workplace democracy should aim to democratize both spheres of power: governance and management. Indeed, there exists a broad spectrum of intermediate decision-making – carried out by middle and line management, such as team leaders, supervisors, superintendents, and foremen – that constitutes an often-overlooked site of power in worker cooperatives. The primary responsibilities of managers – which should remain subject to oversight by the workers – should therefore include facilitating and fostering democratic deliberation on work-related issues, supporting coordination efforts, and providing assistance to workers. This perspective also supports the view that managers themselves should be elected rather than appointed by the cooperative’s general manager or board of directors, as is usually the case.

Abstract Mondragon’s worker-owned-and-governed cooperatives are rooted in the socialist utopian tradition of envisioning alternative economic organizations designed to promote worker well-being, workplace democracy, and community embeddedness. For many years, they have challenged capitalist logic and hierarchical power structures while remaining economically viable and democratically governed, countering the predictions of degeneration theories. However, recent transformation of Mondragon’s largest industrial cooperatives into multinational coopitalist hybrids, maintaining a cooperative core of worker-members while operating capitalist subsidiaries with wage workers lacking membership rights, pose risks to their democratic structures. This paradox highlights the tension between economic survival in global capitalism and cooperative identity. By examining Mondragon’s trajectory, the paper questions whether internationalization can coexist with economic democracy or whether global expansion inevitably compromises cooperative principles, forcing adaptation to market-driven imperatives. Understanding these tensions is crucial for the future of economic democracy and the development of sustainable alternative organizations.

For a long time, political theory has questioned the nature of the representative link. Certainly less comprehensive is the study by political sociology of the effectiveness of representative democracy in terms of the conformity of public actions with the expectations of citizens. Representative democracy is a political system that allows citizens to exercise their right to vote to elect representatives who will make decisions on behalf of the people. Representatives are elected for a fixed term and are responsible for implementing policies and legislation that serve the interests of their constituents. A representative democracy works by allowing citizens to choose their representatives through free and fair elections. Voters can choose their representatives based on their political views and preferences. Once elected, representatives must represent the interests of their constituents and make decisions that reflect their views. Representative democracy has a significant impact on social justice. On the one hand, it provides citizens with the opportunity to participate in political decision-making and to speak out on important issues. It allows citizens to engage in the decision-making process and make their voices heard. On the other hand, representative democracy allows citizens to elect their representatives and hold them accountable for their actions. Representative democracy is an institution of limiting power outside society, which will eventually become an institution of power over the community, but coming from it. From this point on, there will be a constant ambiguity and tension between the citizens’ belonging to this government, which becomes “their” government, and the externality, which is manifested in the right to opposition.

‘Labour republicanism’ harnesses the ideal of freedom as nondomination to explain and challenge the injustices marring current workplace relations. Central to its challenge is a call for institutionalizing worker voice, with some also calling for workplace democratization and reorganizing capitalist enterprises along cooperative lines. Labour republicanism, in turn, has been criticized, most notably by the ‘commercial republican’ Robert S. Taylor. Taylor contends that contrary to its intentions, labour republicanism, or, more particularly, ‘radical labour republicanism’, would perpetuate domination by undermining freedom of occupational choice; enabling tyrannical workplace majority rule; concentrating too much power in state agents; and encouraging revolutionary violence and violent reaction from capitalist interests. To counter workplace domination, we should not institutionalize worker voice, but instead augment workers’ exit options through instituting a market-friendly property-owning democracy. This paper argues that Taylor errs in his claims against radical labour republicanism on account of distorting its implications for occupational choice and obscuring how freedom-as-nondomination preserving principles are built into its conception of democratic workplaces and the cooperative economy. He also errs in thinking property-owning democracy would not itself be vulnerable to violent reaction from capitalist interests.

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, a prominent social reformer, economist, jurist and the principal architect of the Indian Constitution, did not directly develop a comprehensive theory on “Human Resource Management” (HRM) as it is understood today. However, his thoughts on social justice, equality and empowerment of marginalized communities indirectly reflect values that can be applied to modern human resource (HR) practices. Some of the important thoughts of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar are presented here which are relevant to HRM. These include: Equality and Inclusion; Education and Empowerment; Social Justice, Social Responsibility and Fair Treatment; Human Dignity and Respect; Affirmative Action; Leadership and Representation; Labour Rights; and Workplace Democracy. While Dr. Ambedkar did not directly write about human resource management, his work on social justice, empowerment, equality, human dignity and other thoughts can guide modern HR practices. Today, the HRM could benefit from integrating Ambedkar‟s principles of inclusion, fairness and respect for all individuals into the core of organizational cultures, policies and practices. In view of this, the present paper explores out some important thoughts of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar that can be globally accepted on the HRM

Purpose We show that employee ownership is more efficient than control by external capital owners/employers. This complements the empirical evidence for benefits of employee ownership surveyed by Mygind and Poulsen (2021), Kruse (2022) and Dow (2003), and the normative political case for democratising work made by Ellerman (1975, 2022), Ferreras et al. (2022), Piketty (2022) and others. Of course, efficiency issues are usually important in economic evaluation. Design/methodology/approach Worker mobility or “exit” is generally costly, so employers with residual control have monopsony power to exploit workers with non-contractible job utility – who are thus less than perfectly mobile and, in the absence of collective bargaining, lack countervailing “voice”. Findings The potential for wasteful conflict and exploitation is inherent in the employment relationship, and socially optimal effort is unlikely to be achieved. We show that economic efficiency in a “sticky” world (Banerjee and Duflo, 2019) with imperfect information and incomplete contracting actually requires residual control by workers rather than just capital-labour parity in “democratic socialism”, so labour should hire capital rather than vice versa. Originality/value The “labour hires capital” allocation of rights contrasts with the traditional power of capital-owning employers who claim the firm’s residual income and control of hired employees. Such shareholder primacy not only deprives employees of their rights of self-determination and generates conflict, but also, and less obviously, generally fails to attain the efficient effort-output trade-off.

Abstract Existing scholarship on China's industrial politics in the early post-Mao era has not paid adequate attention to the tension between two seemingly contradictory tendencies: the reform drives to consolidate managerial despotism in urban public enterprises, and policy endeavors to strengthen formal institutional channels for workers to participate in their enterprises’ democratic management. Focusing on the city of Wuhan in 1984–1985, this article examines the policy logic behind these two overlapping tendencies and how workers experienced and reacted to them. It argues that, on the one hand, Wuhan's local authorities merely intended the institutional formalities of democracy to facilitate and build popular support for the inauguration of managerial despotism. On the other hand, workers’ very involvement in this façade of democracy accidentally emboldened many of them to air grievances, make subversive demands, assert agency, and even resist managerial despotism. These findings shed light on the nuanced historicity of 1980s China and contribute to a rethinking of the meaning of workplace democracy.

The lack of workplace democracy is a serious problem, causing inequality, job insecurity, disrespect, and domination. The fundamental solution is the democratization of workplace. But how might this realistically occur? This paper proposes a novel legal right: All workers should have the right to collectively buy in to their firm by paying the owners the fair value of the firm’s worth. This buy-in grants workers the right to collectively become equal partners, at which point the firm is legally transformed into a worker cooperative. Importantly, this right does not require agreement from the owners. It is shown that this law would provide substantial benefits to workers, whereas the costs to owners are likely to be minor. There may be some costs to the economy more broadly, but these are also likely to be quite modest. For society overall, the benefits of this legislation are likely to significantly outweigh the costs.

ABSTRACT Democratic decision-making upholds local government legitimacy, institutionalising participation, debate, and decisions. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated online meeting formats to maintain these democratic processes. This shift allowed for a natural experiment to study the effects of online local meetings on councillors’ floor time. This paper develops a method to analyse the transition from onsite to online meetings and its effect on floor time distribution, and we here analyse the effects on floor time among different age groups. Using video analysis of onsite and online meetings in two Swedish municipal councils, our results showed that age may not significantly predict floor time, contrary to digital divide theories. We suggest that Sweden’s high digital literacy and robust municipal IT support mitigated age-related differences in floor time. Future research should explore varying council sizes to broaden the context.

ABSTRACT Suppose an act of caring can be at once good, even admirable, and still help sustain a system that harms people and our shared world. In this paper, I reflect on interviews with street-level bureaucrats working with civil society to maintain and repair collective capacities for problem-solving and collective reflection in segregated Swedish cities. I want to explore how seeing their work as a form of care – as caring for democracy – may help address the responsibility and distribution of the labor of ‘making democracy work.’ The interviews also draw attention to the ambiguous function of caring: while caring is good in a caring society, it is frustrating in an uncaring one. Where care workers cannot challenge the terms of care, they can only choose either to withdraw, thereby causing direct harm to people even as they expose systemic flaws, or carry on and cooperate, even if it means supporting a flawed, unjust system.

Political Spillovers of Worker Representation: With or Without Workplace Democracy?