Democratic Spillover from Workplace into Politics: What Are We Measuring and How?

Abstract

This study reviewed a body of empirical research on Carole Pateman's democratic spillover thesis, which argues that democratic participation in the workplace spill over into political participation. The review revealed significant variance in defining and measuring of workplace democracy and participation among quantitative empirical studies on the spillover thesis. The review also discovered that majority of the reviewed studies omitted higher level participation as a predictor, and political efficacy, which is a mediating mechanism between workplace participation and political behaviors, in testing the hypotheses. Suggestions for future research and limitations are discussed.

Citation

Kim, J. (2021), "Democratic Spillover from Workplace into Politics: What Are We Measuring and How?", Lewin, D. and Gollan, P.J. (Ed.) Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations (Advances in Industrial & Labor Relations, Vol. 26), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 145-176. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0742-618620210000026006