Political Science

Democracy in the workplace means for me respect to human rights, freedom for everyone, participation and involvement purely based on shared values, equality, due processes, the rule of law, transparency and the proper governance within the company. In addition to this, democracy in the workplace should include such elements as the freedom of association, expression, and the access to all available pieces of information. It should also include the participation and the employees rights of comprehending whatever goes on at their workplace. In several nations around the world, democracy is not only being entrenched on the political arena but also in the workplaces. The main goal of workplace democracy is putting in place management systems that are effective and hence improve the employees productivity in their respective workplaces (Schreader, 2009).

Workplace democracy
The lack of democracy in the workplace can lead to an increase of the alienation of employees. In such conditions, the employees do not have an effective control over the roles that are to play in the organization. The workers are simply detached from such a workplace or the organization and thus be detached from the work they do. Without the workplace democracy, the workers lack the individual determination and self expression, and meaning and power of their efforts in the organization, since they feel estranged and isolated. However, by embracing democracy at the workplace, the alienation of workers at the workplace is greatly reduced if not eliminated. It is important to bear in mind that democracy at the workplace is not an extension of political democracy. Workplace democracy enables the employees of an organization to participate effectively in decision making process in their places of work. By ensuring that employees participate effectively in the decision making process of an organization, they feel that management is not imposing such decisions on them and hence they naturally do not resist them. This form of democracy leads to more control, power and ownership over the work they do in respect to career prospects and skills acquired (Scontrino, 1998).
 
The workplace democracy is not a means of compromising work ethics and competitiveness of organizations. Instead, it assists in humanizing the work environment.  Increasing workers participation in their places of work, acts as a means of enhancing the human development of the workers and that the employees have to be engaged frilly with sufficient power, positive altitude, social support, relevant training and having influence in the decision being made in the organization, which affect them directly and hence enable the employees to avoid any alienation sense. Such a work environment that is humanized boosts greater harmony in the workplace, which in the end benefits the employees, employers and indeed the entire consumer society. Workplace democracy extends to workers involvement in job tasks planning, setting acceptable practice standards and solving the problems that are emerging and hence improve productivity at the workplace both in terms of quantity and quality (Mayer, 2000).

In the workplace where democracy is upheld, every employee should be entitled to the right of self expression. The management should not under any circumstances impose undue influence, apply coercion or intimidation in denying the workers their right of expressing themselves in their workplace. Employees working in a workplace that is democratic should be in a position of expressing their views freely without the fear that the management will victimize them. This will enable the employees to enjoy their freedom of self expression, which is a fundamental right. In addition, both the employers and the employees of such an organization stand to benefit significantly from the freedom of expression since any emerging problem gets a chance of getting solved amicably before it can grow into a much bigger problem. However, the right to self expression given to workers in a democratic workplace should be used for the right purpose. The workers should not abuse their right to self expression by using it irresponsibly. All rights given to workers in a democratic workplace should be accompanied by the right responsibility and therefore there should be checks and balances in a democratic workplace, which ensures that everyone does his or her role without infringing the rights of another person within the organization (Beckman, 1990).

The workplace democracy should always ensure that there is a good governance and transparency in the organization. The management should not subject workers to bad governance in which they are treated unfairly without following the due process of the rules and regulations stipulated in the organization. Again, the management should not use their power in the organization to make policies, rules and standings that are capable of instilling bad governance in the organization. This therefore implies that the workers should not be compelled to follow such policies, rules and standings that are inconsistent with those stipulated in the company laws that govern organizations. In workplaces that uphold workplace democracy, transparency should be one of the main pillars. A democratic workplace should be one that is free from all the economic and social evils. Such practices as harassment of junior staff and corruption should not be condoned in a workplace that claims to be democratic. By condoning these types of practices basically means that the basic principles of democracy are not followed or observed and this is a major drawback to the tremendous achievements that have been made in making workplaces experience the true taste of democracy. Everything in the organization should be done in a transparent manner in which everyone in the workplace, whether it is the subordinate employees or the senior managers should be fully aware of all that is taking place. Employees should therefore have the right of questioning various actions that are being carried out and indeed get the right information (Schreader, 2009).

Everyone in a workplace that embraces the principles of democracy should have the right to his or her human rights. No employee should be denied any human right under any circumstances in a workplace that respects democratic principles. This therefore means that no employee should be subjected to a dehumanizing punishment, be sexually abused or assaulted, discriminated against or be victimized as a result of expressing his or her views in regard to various matters in the workplace. All the workers in the workplace should be treated with dignity by their superiors. Whenever there is need to take an action against an employee who in one way or another has broken the rules of the organization, the due process should be followed to ensure that such an employee is not unfairly dismissed or punished (Scontrino, 1998).  

The right to association for everyone is very essential and it applies to workers just as it is applicable on every other individual. In a workplace that claims to uphold and observe democratic principles and ideologies, no worker should for any reason be denied the right of association. The workplace should therefore be one that allows both formal and informal groups to operate within the organization. The management of an organization claiming to observe democratic values should not interfere with the rights of the workers to associate freely by dictating on them the people they should associate with at any given time. However, the workers should use their right of association in the right manner. This means that workers should ensure that they remain responsible and focused towards the attainment of the goals for which the organization hired them for in the first place. It would not be in order for the employees to make use of their freedom of association to blackmail their organization and therefore jeopardize its future. This therefore means that for a workforce to be truly democratic, each individual within it have to play his or her role. It is not just the duty of the management to ensure that the workplace is democratic they should only spearhead the process of democratizing the organization (Beckman, 1990).

In the workplace that is truly democratic, there should be no single employee who is denied the right of accessing information that he or she is entitled to. The management should not be oppressive by denying their employees the right of accessing any information they are entitled to. Again, the employees should not be required to bribe in any way in order to access such information. Just like it applies to the employees, they should also not hide any information at their disposal from the management who has the right of accessing and knowing such information (Schreader, 2009).

For a very long time, the workplace environments allover the world have practiced discrimination especially against women workers. For a workplace to be said that it is truly democratic, then it has no alternative but to take affirmative action. This means that such a workplace must continuously ensure that women working in them do not face any gender based or any other form of discrimination. Women in such a workplace should just like their male counterparts be given a chance of serving in various positions based on their skills, techniques and academic qualifications. Promotion and recruitment in the workplace should not be based on gender but on merit. Therefore, it is the academic qualifications, experience and skills that should be applied in such instances and not ones sex or any other trait that makes people be discriminated against and, thus, face prejudice. All employees in an organization should also be compensated in the right manner and merit. People should not simply more than others because they are in good terms with the management and other senior employees. Everyone should be remunerated according to the standard scale of the organization which has to be fair in all aspects (Scontrino, 1998).  

Conclusion
The workplace democracy is crucial in improving the work environment of all employees. It reduces instances of the employees alienation which might have very negative effects on the productivity of the workers. The benefits of upholding good democratic principles in an organization do not only help the employees but in deed the entire organization. It should therefore be in the interest of the management and the employees to ensure that the right democratic principles are being observed in the organization. Workplace democracy ensures that everyone in the organization is given a chance of taking part in the decision making process and this reduces instances of imposing decisions on some segments of the workforce and therefore create unnecessary conflicts and resistance.