Still More on Democracy

Hi,
You mention that companies that belong to the shareholders have some measure of democracy. This of course is democracy among the owners and not among the employees. I guess when I think of democracy in terms of business, I think about it in the workplace, among the employees and not among the owners. The owners will of course have a lot of power over the employees -- whether the owners are shareholders or one or a small handful of individuals. The owners of a business having a say is not such a big deal to me. It's more of a given. But when the employees have a say -- now that's democracy in the world of business that is of interest to me.

-Brigitte

You are right. True democracy at the workplace is set among the employees. The best set-up in my opinion is one in which the employees are also the owners, which does happen in some rare instances. Of course, no matter what the structure, some members, whether or not they are employees or not, will have more power and influence. The greatest assurance for the existence of democracy in the workplace is a deep-rooted democratic value system of mutual respect between managers and managed, and among peers.

-Howard