The right to participate

A basic principle of democracy holds that all citizens have a right to participate in decisions that affect their personal interests, including decisions taken in the context of employment. Most industrialized, market economy democracies have created institutions to ensure that this right is effective. In North America, however, the right to participate in the making of critical employment decisions has not been secured, largely because of perverse, adversarial dynamics elicited by labor relations statutes. Universal, statutory participation via works councils is proposed as a means of making the right effective.