Worker Voice and Political Participation in Civil Society

Abstract

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Political Spillovers of Workplace Democracy in Germany

“…Most of the empirical studies on union membership and political spillovers have been based on cross-sectional data (see Hadiziabdic and Baccaro 2020 for an exception). This has given rise to the concern that results may have been influenced by a positive self-selection of workers (Budd and Lamare 2020). Unions may tend to attract workers who are anyway characterized by a systematically higher civic and political engagement.…”

“…Political spillover theory suggests a series of (partially overlapping) transmission channels through which workplace democracy can influence workers' civic and political engagement outside the workplace (Budd and Lamare 2020). While the logic and reasoning of political spillover theory have been usually applied to unions, they also hold true for other types of worker representation.…”

“…The dataset provides a rich set of control variables. As emphasized by Budd and Lamare (2020), a worker's earnings can be a confounding factor when estimating the influence of worker voice on political participation. Indeed, most studies find that the presence of a works council is associated with higher wages (Mohrenweiser 2022).…”

“…It may also have consequences for society as a whole which go far beyond the narrow boundaries of the workplace . In particular, political spillover theory suggests that participation in the firm's decision making has the potential to foster workers' political participation in civic society (Budd and Lamare 2020). 1 Participation in the firm's decision making may lead to feelings of political effectiveness, the development of political skills, a higher awareness of political issues, and increased generalized solidarity among workers.…”

Works Councils and Workers' Party Preferences in Germany

“…It is crucial to recognize that works councils can have non-financial consequences for civic society that go beyond the narrow boundaries of the workplace. Political spillover theory suggests that participation in the firm's decision making fosters workers' political interest and engagement (Budd 2014, Budd et al 2018, Budd and Lamare 2020. 1 This also applies to works councils (Jirjahn and Le 2022).…”