The United States has, in Massachusetts, the world's oldest codetermination law that has been continually in force since 1919, although it is only voluntary and only for manufacturing companies.
(meta data) TITLE: Democracy in America at Work: The History of Labor's Vote in Corporate Governance by Ewan McGaughey :: SSRN (meta data) AUTHOR: McGaughey, Ewan Skip to main content Download This Paper Open PDF in Browser Add Paper to My Library Using the URL or DOI link below will ensure access to this page indefinitely Copy URL Copy URL # Democracy in America at Work: The History of Labor's Vote in Corporate Governance (2019) 42 Seattle University Law Review 697 48 Pages Posted: 11 Oct 2018 Last revised: 10 Apr 2019 See all articles by Ewan McGaughey ## Ewan McGaughey School of Law, King's College, London; Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge; University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law Date Written: September 10, 2018 ### Abstract Can there be democracy in America at work? The historical division between democracy in politics and hierarchy in the economy is under strain. Hierarchical interests in the economy are shifting their model of power into politics, and yet a commitment to revive the law is resurgent. Central examples are the proposed Accountable Capitalism Act, Reward Work Act, Workplace Democracy Acts, and Employees' Pension Security Acts. They would create a right for employees to elect 40% of directors on $1 billion company boards, a right for employees to elect one-third of directors on other listed company boards, and require one-half employee representation on single-employer pension plans. All challenge long held myths: that labor's involvement in corporate governance is foreign to American tradition, that when codified in law labor voice is economically inefficient, that the legitimate way to have voice in the economy is by buying stocks, or that labor voice faces insurmountable legal obstacles. This article shows these myths are mistaken by exploring the history and evidence from 1861. The United States has one of the world's strongest traditions of democracy at work. Economic democracy has not been more widespread primarily because it was suppressed by law. Americans favor voice at work, while asset managers who monopolize shareholder votes with 'other people's money' enjoy no legitimacy at all. The article concludes that, even without federal government, and by recreating themselves as laboratories of democracy and enterprise, states can adapt the current proposals and rebuild a living law. Keywords: Democracy, Labor Law, Corporate Governance, Codetermination, Accountable Capitalism, Pensions, Shareholders, Asset Managers, Other People's Money, Labor's Capital, Wall Street JEL Classification: K10, K12, K21, K22, K32, J01, J30, J51, J83, L20, L50, L51 Suggested Citation McGaughey, Ewan, Democracy in America at Work: The History of Labor's Vote in Corporate Governance (September 10, 2018). (2019) 42 Seattle University Law Review 697 . Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3246974 ### Ewan McGaughey (Contact Author) #### School of Law, King's College, London; Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge ( email ) Somerset House East WingStrandLondon, WC2R 2LSUnited Kingdom HOME PAGE: http://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ewan.mcgaughey.html #### University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law Boalt HallBerkeley, CA 94720-7200United States Download This Paper Open PDF in Browser ## Register to save articles toyour library ## Paper statistics Abstract Views PlumX Metrics ## Related eJournals King's College London Dickson Poon School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper Series #### King's College London Dickson Poon School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper Series Subscribe to this free journal for more curated articles on this topic This Journal is curated by: Ori J. 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Co-determination
United States.