Using structural equation modelling, this article examines the hypothesis that employees can learn about democracy through employee participation in workplace decision-making, thus resulting in more positive attitudes toward democracy in the wider political arena. The research finds that workplace democracy is strongly positively associated with increased interest in politics and wider pro-democracy affect. This result holds true even when controlling for reverse causality and the confounding influence of trade union membership. The article suggests that work can have an important effect on wider governance at the level of the community and the state.
AlmondGVerbaS (1963) The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes in Five Western Democracies. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
2.
AyresS (2014) European Parliament Elections: Turnout Trends, 1979–2009. London: House of Commons Library.
3.
BarleySR (2007) Corporations, democracy, and the public good. Journal of Management Inquiry16(3): 201–215.
4.
BarroRJ (1999) Determinants of democracy. Journal of Political Economy107(S6): 158–183.
5.
BeardwellJClaydonT (2007) Human Resource Management: A Contemporary Approach, 5th edn.Harlow: Pearson Education.
6.
BlaisARubensonD (2013) The source of turnout decline: New values or new contexts?Comparative Political Studies46(1): 95–117.
7.
BollenKA (1989) Structural Equations with Latent Variables. New York: Wiley.
8.
BoxallPAngSHBartramT (2011) Analysing the ‘black box’ of HRM: Uncovering HR goals, mediators, and outcomes in a standardized service environment. Journal of Management Studies48(7): 1504–1532.
9.
BradleyKGelbA (1980) Worker cooperatives as industrial policy: The case of the ‘Scottish Daily News’. The Review of Economic StudiesXLVII: 665–678.
10.
BrysonAForthJ (2010) Trade union membership and influence 1999–2009. CEP Discussion Paper No. 1003, Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics and Political Science.
11.
BrysonAGomezRKretschmerTWillmanP (2014) What accounts for the union member advantage in voter turnout? Evidence from the European Union, 2002–2008. NIESR Discussion Paper No. 428.
12.
BuddJZagelmeyerS (2010) Public policy and employee participation. In: WilkinsonAGolanPMarchingtonMLewinD (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Participation in Organisations. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 476–503.
13.
BuddJWLamareJRTimmingAR (2017) Learning about democracy at work: Cross-national evidence on the effects of employee participation in workplace decision-making on political participation in civil society. Industrial and Labor Relations Review. Epub ahead of print.
14.
BullockHEHarlowLLMulaikSA (1994) Causation issues in structural equation modeling research. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal1(3): 253–267.
15.
BusseMHefekerC (2007) Political risk, institutions, and foreign direct investment. European Journal of Political Economy23(2): 397–415.
16.
ByrneBM (2001) Structural Equation Modeling with AMOS: Basic Concepts, Applications, and Programming. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
17.
CanacheDMondakJJSeligsonMA (2001) Meaning and measurement in cross-national research on satisfaction with democracy. Public Opinion Quarterly65(4): 506–528.
18.
CarterN (2003) Workplace democracy: Turning workers into citizens?European Consortium for Political Research, Joint Sessions. Edinburgh, Scotland.
19.
CarterN (2006) Political participation and the workplace: The spillover thesis revisited. British Journal of Politics and International Relations8(3): 410–426.
20.
CottonJLVollrathDAFroggattKL, et al. (1988) Employee participation: Diverse forms and different outcomes. Academy of Management Review13(1): 8–22.
21.
DaltonRJ (1999) Political support in advanced industrial democracies. In: NorrisP (ed.) Critical Citizens: Global Support for Democratic Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
22.
DamKW (2007) The Law–Growth Nexus: The Rule of Law and Economic Development. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
23.
De TocquevilleA (2004 [1835–40]) Democracy in America. New York: Library of America.
24.
DundonTWilkinsonAMarchingtonMAckersP (2004) The meanings and purpose of employee voice. International Journal of Human Resource Management15(6): 1149–1170.
25.
EldenJM (1981) Political efficacy at work: The connection between more autonomous forms of workplace organization and a more participatory politics. American Political Science Review75(1): 43–58.
26.
European Social Survey (2009) Round 5 Specification for Participating Countries. London: Centre for Comparative Social Surveys, City University London.
27.
European Social Survey (2010a) ESS Round 5 Translation Guidelines. Mannheim: European Social Survey GESIS.
28.
European Social Survey (2010b) ESS Round 5 Source Questionnaire. London: Centre for Comparative Social Surveys, City University London.
29.
FoleyJPolanyiM (2006) Workplace democracy: Why bother?Economic and Industrial Democracy27(2): 173–191.
30.
GardellB (1976) Reactions at work and their influence on nonwork activities: An analysis of a sociopolitical problem in affluent societies. Human Relations29(9): 885–904.
31.
GodardJ (2004) Critical assessment of the high performance paradigm. British Journal of Industrial Relations42(2): 349–378.
32.
GollobHFReichardtCS (1987) Taking account of time lags in causal models. Child Development58(1): 80–92.
33.
GollobHFReichardtCS (1991) Interpreting and estimating indirect effects assuming time lags really matter. In: CollinsLMHornJL (eds) Best Methods for the Analysis of Change. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
34.
GrayMCaulM (2000) Declining voter turnout in advanced industrial democracies, 1950 to 1997. Comparative Political Studies33(9): 1091–1122.
35.
GreenbergES (1981) Industrial self-management and political attitudes. American Political Science Review75(1): 29–42.
36.
GuerinSSManzocchiS (2009) Political regime and FDI from advanced to emerging countries. Review of World Economics145(1): 75–91.
37.
GuestDHoqueK (1994) The good, the bad and the ugly: Employment relations in new non-union workplaces. Human Resource Management Journal5(1): 1–14.
38.
GustavsenB (1980) From satisfaction to collective action: Trends in the development of research and reform in working life. Economic and Industrial Democracy1(2): 147–170.
39.
HakimC (2002) Lifestyle preferences as determinants of women’s differentiated labor market careers. Work and Occupations29(4): 428–459.
40.
HallierJSummersJ (2011) Dilemmas and outcomes of professional identity construction among students of human resource management. Human Resource Management Journal21(2): 204–219.
41.
HegreHKnutsenCHGeelmuyden RødE (2012) The determinants of democracy: A sensitivity analysis. mimeo, Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, Centre for the Study of Civil War.
42.
HelliwellJF (1994) Empirical linkages between democracy and economic growth. British Journal of Political Science24(2): 225–248.
43.
HeywoodJSSiebertWSWeiX (2005) High performance workplaces and family friendly practices: Promises made and promises kept. Discussion Paper No. 1812, Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn.
44.
HuLTBentlerPM (1999) Cutoff criteria for fit indices in covariance structure modeling: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling6(1): 1–55.
45.
InglehartR (2003) How solid is mass support for democracy – and how can we measure it?PS: Political Science and Politics36(1): 51–57.
46.
JensenNM (2003) Democratic governance and multinational corporations: Political regimes and inflows of foreign direct investment. International Organization57(3): 587–616.
47.
JonesDCJussilaIKalmiP (2009) What determines membership in cooperatives? A new framework and evidence from banks. In: The 2nd International CIRIEC Research Conference on Social Economy, Östersund, 1–2 October 2009.
JowellRRobertsCFitzgeraldREvaG (eds) (2007) Measuring Attitudes Cross-Nationally: Lessons from the European Social Survey. London: Sage.
50.
JudgeTABretzRD (1992) Effects of work values on job choice decisions. Journal of Applied Psychology77(3): 261–271.
51.
KarasekRA (1976) The impact of the work environment on life outside the job. PhD dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
52.
KarasekRA (2004) Job socialization: The carry-over effects of work on political and leisure activities. Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society24(4): 284–304.
53.
KarasekRTheorellT (1990) Healthy Work: Stress, Productivity, and the Reconstruction of Working Life. New York: Basic Books.
54.
KauselEESlaughterJE (2011) Narrow personality traits and organizational attraction: Evidence for the complementary hypothesis. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes114(1): 3–14.
55.
KlineRB (2005) Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling, 2nd edn.New York: Guilford Press.
56.
LamareJR (2010) The interactive effects of labor-led political mobilization and vote propensity on turnout: Evidence from five elections. Industrial Relations49(4): 616–639.
57.
LipsetSM (1983) Radicalism or reformism: The sources of working-class politics. American Political Science Review77(1): 1–18.
58.
MacCallumRCAustinJT (2000) Applications of structural equation modeling in psychological research. Annual Review of Psychology51: 201–226.
59.
MacCallumRCBrowneMWSugawaraHM (1996) Power analysis and determination of sample size for covariance structure modeling. Psychological Methods1(2): 130–149.
60.
MacCallumRCRoznowskiMNicowitzLB (1992) Model modifications in covariance structure analysis: The problem of capitalization on chance. Psychological Bulletin111(3): 490–504.
61.
MarmotMGBosmaHHemingwayH, et al. (1997) Contribution of job control and other risk factors to social variations in coronary heart disease incidence. The Lancet350(9073): 235–239.
62.
MarmotMGShipleyMJRoseG (1984) Inequalities in death – specific explanations of a general pattern?The Lancet323(8384): 1003–1006.
63.
MillikenFJMorrisonEWHewlinPF (2003) An exploratory study of employee silence: Issues that employees don’t communicate upward and why. Journal of Management Studies40(6): 1453–1476.
64.
MishlerWRoseR (1997) Trust, distrust, and skepticism: Popular evaluations of civil and political institutions in post-communist societies. Journal of Politics59(2): 418–451.
65.
NearJPRiceRWHuntRG (1980) The relationship between work and nonwork domains: A review of empirical research. Academy of Management Review5(3): 415–429.
66.
NgCWNgE (2009) Balancing the democracy dilemmas: Experiences of three women workers’ cooperatives in Hong Kong. Economic and Industrial Democracy30(2): 182–206.
67.
PatemanC (1970) Participation and Democratic Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
68.
PecceiRRosenthalP (2001) Delivering customer-oriented behaviour through empowerment: An empirical test of HRM assumptions. Journal of Management Studies38(6): 831–857.
69.
PriorM (2010) You’ve either got it or you don’t? The stability of political interest over the life cycle. Journal of Politics72(3): 747–766.
70.
PurcellJHallM (2012) Voice and participation in the modern workplace: Challenges and prospects. Acas Future of Workplace Relations Discussion Paper Series (March 2012). Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, London.
71.
PutnamR (1993) Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
72.
PutnamR (2000) Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon and Schuster.
73.
QuinnDPWoolleyJT (2001) Democracy and national economic performance: The preference for stability. American Journal of Political Science45(3): 634–657.
74.
RadcliffB (2001) Organized labor and electoral participation in American national elections. Journal of Labor Research22(2): 405–414.
75.
ResnickAL (2001) Investors, turbulence and transition: Democratic transition and foreign direct investment in nineteen developing countries. International Interactions27(4): 381–398.
76.
ShookCLKetchenDJJrHultGTMKacmarKM (2004) An assessment of the use of structural equation modeling in strategic management research. Strategic Management Journal25(4): 397–404.
77.
SklairL (2002) Democracy and the transnational capitalist class. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science581: 144–157.
78.
SmithA (1976 [1776]) An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, ed. CampbellRHSkinnerASToddWB. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
79.
StoopIBillietJKochAFitzgeraldR (2010) Improving Survey Response: Lessons Learned from the European Social Survey. Chichester: Wiley.
80.
TimmingAR (2012) Tracing the effects of employee involvement and participation on trust in managers: An analysis of covariance structures. International Journal of Human Resource Management23(15): 3243–3257.
81.
TimmingAR (2015) The ‘reach’ of employee participation in decision-making: Exploring the Aristotelian roots of workplace democracy. Human Resource Management Journal25(3): 382–396.
82.
TimmingARJohnstoneS (2015) Employee silence and the authoritarian personality: A political psychology of workplace democracy. International Journal of Organizational Analysis23(1): 154–171.
83.
Van DyneLAngSBoteroIC (2003) Conceptualizing employee silence and employee voice as multidimensional constructs. Journal of Management Studies40(6): 1359–1392.
84.
VandaeleK (2012) Youth representatives’ opinions on recruiting and representing young workers: A twofold unsatisfied demand?European Journal of Industrial Relations18(3): 203–218.
85.
WilkinsonADonagheyJDundonTFreemanRB (eds) (2014) Handbook of Research on Employee Voice: Elgar Original Reference. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
86.
WongCSLawKS (1999) Testing reciprocal relations by nonrecursive structural equation models using cross-sectional data. Organizational Research Methods2(1): 69–87.
87.
WrightS (1921) Correlation and causation. Journal of Agricultural Research20(7): 557–585.
88.
YangB (2007) Autocracy, democracy, and FDI inflows to the developing countries. International Economic Journal21(3): 419–439.
89.
ZhuWChewIKHSpanglerWD (2006) Corrigendum to ‘CEO transformational leadership and organizational outcomes: The mediating role of human-capital-enhancing human resource management’. The Leadership Quarterly17(3): 316–316.
