G.D.H. Cole and the Promise of Functional Democracy

• In Event: Democracy beyond Politics in Late Modern Thought

Abstract

Political theorists have often held that democracy suits simplicity. Complexity, particularly of the economic and technological sort attendant to the division of labor, seems to threaten the capacity of citizens to govern themselves. As the functions of socially necessary labor increase, so too must experts, bureaucrats, and other private interests encroach on government by the people. This paper, by contrast, denies the inherent contradiction between complexity and self-government. It proposes a theory of “functional democracy,” holding that citizens ought to participate in government according to the socially necessary work they perform, provided that they themselves labor in democratic workplaces. The paper builds this theory through a reconstruction of the political thought of G.D.H. Cole (1889-1959), the most important theorist of the British labor movement in the 20th century. Cole was a significant figure in the participatory tradition of democratic theory. He believed in democracy through, rather than merely within, industry. In his early life he advocated for labor unions to replace firms as the primary model of organizing production. In order to do so, unions would have to transform into guilds with quasi-public responsibilities. He also believed in “functional representation,” by which these guilds would enjoy a say over industrial policy at large. After the Great Depression and his own turn to Keynesianism, Cole walked back some of these radical ideas in favor of top-down state planning. Yet his political thought nonetheless retained functionalist features. It is these features, moreover, that give his functional politics its significance in contemporary debates surrounding democracy, work, and the state. After historically contextualizing Cole’s functional politics, this paper addresses contemporary issues in democratic theory. In particular, it engages with instrumental and intrinsic arguments for workplace democracy, seeking to connect those arguments (as Cole did) to macroscopic reforms in the conduct of polity-level democracy. It also deals with an underappreciated question in this realm: the problem of how to transition from workplace democracy to workplace autocracy. Finally, the paper returns to the issue of the compatibility between democracy and complexity. By tying civic participation to the division of labor, it concludes, functional democracy gives citizens the best opportunity to meaningfully and intelligently engage in politics. By channeling democracy through work, Cole's framework endows workers with the power to craft policy for the spheres in which they enjoy the most expertise and familiarity.

Author

• Max Ridge, Princeton University