Participatory and workplace democracy : a theoretical development in critique of liberalism

“The times demand action and reaction, but not despair,” contends Ronald M. Mason in this soundly constructed argument that all should have more control over their lives and that this control should be exercised not only in the home and during hours of leisure but in the workplace as well. Mason indicts liberalism, theoretically an ally of democracy, as the chief culprit in de­priving us of a voice in the workplace, the place where most of us spend nearly a third of our days. The problem is that classical lib­eralism divides life into two spheres: the so­cial and the political. Life, liberty, and prop­erty—everything, in fact, that the human being values—fall into the social orb. There­fore liberalism champions the social sphere, scorns the political. To the liberal, the politi­cal sphere is sordid, a thing to be avoided except by those few governmental represen­tatives we elect to protect life, liberty, and property. Yet the political constitutes a major por­tion of our lives, and, according to Mason, it is at the level of the workplace that we can acquire the habits of participation that will carry over into our community lives as well. He demonstrates that people who participate in decision making in the workplace are likely to enter the governmental arena. Participation creates involvement; nonpar­ticipation breeds apathy. Thus, Mason ar­gues, democratic participation in the work­place benefits both the individual and the community. Study on relationships between workers participation and political democracy, with particular reference to the USA - examines related political theories; finds that democratization of the workplace has a positive impact on workers' political participation and job satisfaction; includes a literature survey. References