Democracy and Power as Foundations of Employee Control

Abstract

This chapter provides some background on the theoretical underpinnings of the citizen’s right to participate in the government of his or her state. It then considers the extent to which these underpinnings can be extended to employees in their relationship with their employer firms, and the implications that this has for employee participation in controlling the firm. I also examine whether similar reasoning applies to the participation of other stakeholders in the firm. In addition to this ‘democratic’ foundation, I consider ‘power’ as a theoretical foundation of employee control (or industrial democracy). In this regard I examine the way in which power is typically shared between the employee and the firm, and what this means for the employee’s participation in the firm.

Keywords: democracy, employer-employee relations, labor, industrial democracy