Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- one New openings
- two Driving democracy
- three Radicalising entrepreneurialism
- four The rise of plural control
- five A different view: organic meta-governance
- six The concept of adaptive strategies
- seven Embodying change
- eight Degrees of democracy
- nine Practice in the making
- ten Energies for change
- Notes
- References
- Index
two - Driving democracy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 September 2022
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- one New openings
- two Driving democracy
- three Radicalising entrepreneurialism
- four The rise of plural control
- five A different view: organic meta-governance
- six The concept of adaptive strategies
- seven Embodying change
- eight Degrees of democracy
- nine Practice in the making
- ten Energies for change
- Notes
- References
- Index
Summary
When people are treated to freedom, equality and security, when they know that they are indeed the organization, when they believe passionately in the goodness of belonging to that organization, and when they take an active hand in steering justice and decision making through well-understood institutional processes, their organization will be capable of achieving truly astounding performance. (Brook Manville and Josiah Ober, 2003, pp 116–17)
Organizational democracy is a system of organization that is based on freedom, instead of fear and control. It's a way of designing organizations to amplify the possibilities of human potential – and the organization as a whole … [T]he core of organizational democracy and political democracy is the same – allowing people to self-govern and determine their own destiny. What is different is the context – one is in the political arena, the other is in the realm of organizations. (WorldBlu)
The traditional organisational model is changing. There is a groundswell favouring more participative and meaningful organisational environments. An OECD study of governance concluded that a trend could be identified over a long period: ‘… a clear reduction in the absolute or unconstrained power of those in positions of power … both at the macro-political level … and at the micro level, where firms and families have experienced important changes in the exercise of authority’ (Michalski et al, 2001, p 9). In his major examination of democracy, John Keane suggests that its nature is changing. He argues that we are moving into an era focused on scrutiny and control of decision makers – that is, one of monitory democracy, which is about watching and challenging power wherever it exists. The seeds of greater public accountability, according to Keane, are being planted everywhere – bedroom, boardroom, battlefield – so that ‘all fields of social and political life come to be scrutinised’ (Keane, 2009, p 695). In the US, some kind of organisational democracy or employee empowerment is claimed to be adopted in some part of over 70% of organisations (Spreitzer and Doneson, 2005). The following is an example that conveys the optimism and enthusiasm behind much of the work, practice and study that make up this groundswell in organisational change:
Collaboration, self-management, and organizational democracy fundamentally alter not only the way we work but the nature of work itself.
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- Transforming Education PolicyShaping a Democratic Future, pp. 15 - 30Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2011