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Who are the True Heirs of the

American Revolution?:Workplace Democracy and America's First Principles

David llerman

!niversity of "alifornia at Riversideand WWW# llerman#or$

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American Revolutionary War War of %ndependence

&ome sa the Revolutionary War only as a arof independence so America ould have its o nindependent monarchy and aristocracy( instead of

)ust *ein$ colonies of n$land's monarchical+aristocratic society#,et the Revolutionary War created -or consummated. :/ a repu*lic instead of a monarchy( and

/ a democracy instead of an aristocratic society#To understand the American Revolution( oneneeds to revie :/ hat is a monarchical society?/ hat is an aristocratic society?

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0onarchical &ociety: 1 nership

2%n theory( the ruler o ned the hole realm( *ut in practice the territorial possessions ofthe royal house ere the main source of

revenue and of favors in peace and ar#These possessions ere scattered( and therealm as a hole as $overned throu$hvarious forms of dele$ated authority#2 34endi5( Reinhard# 6789# Kings or People: Power andthe Mandate to Rule # p# 8

"ontrast o nership of the ;Realm< ith

modern+day o nership of a ;corporation#

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21 nership2 is hereditary

&eein$ the =in$'s Realmas his property fit iththe notion of inheritedrulership or hereditarymonarchy#"ompare to inheritanceof corporate o nership#

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0onarchical &ociety: Dependence

20onarchy presumed hatHume called 'a lon$ train ofdependence(' a $radation ofde$rees of freedom andservility that linked everyonefrom the kin$ at the top do nto the *onded la*orers and

*lack slaves at the *ottom#23Wood( >ordon 677 # The Radicalism of

the American Revolution: How a RevolutionTransformed a Monarchical Society into a Democratic ne !nli"e Any That Had #ver #$isted # p# 67

"ompare to a corporateor$ani@ational chart#

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0onarchical idea:Father of the country =in$B1 ner

At end of Revolutionary War( there as a movement tomake >eor$e Washin$ton into the American monarch#4ut >W had civic repu*lican( not monarchist( ideals#

Washin$ton very pu*licly announced hisretirement from pu*licaffairs and returned(

like the Roman $eneral("incinnatus( to his farmat 0ount Cernon#

4ut e still have the idea of the entrepreneur as thefather+founder of a company to *ecome the 2o ner#2

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An American hereditary aristocracy?

%n 689 ( the American "ontinental Army E avy officer corps formed a hereditary society(the rder of the %incinnati ( ith >W as its first

president#4ut there as a 2$reat popular outcry2 that thisas the start of an American aristocracy # >Wthen forced it to temper the hereditary clause andto avoid any direct political involvement#4ut e still have the idea of the topmana$ersBofficers *ecomin$ si$nificant 2o ners2

in a ne company#

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American *ecame a repu*lic(not a monarchicalBaristocratic society#

2Far from remainin$ monarchical( hierarchy+ridden su*)ects on the mar$in of civili@ation(American had *ecome( almost overni$ht( themost li*eral( the most democratic( the mostcommercially minded( and the most modern

people in the orld#2 3Wood( >ordon 677 # The Radicalism of the American Revolution: How a Revolution Transformed a Monarchical Society into a Democratic ne !nli"e Any That Had #ver #$isted ( pp#G+8

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What happened to the monarchical ideas?They mi$rated to the economic sphere#

The idea that the FatherBFounder of a country should *ecome the =in$B1 ner re+emer$ed as the economicidea that the FounderB ntrepreneur should *ecome the-ma)or. o ner of a company#The idea that the officer corps should *ecome the nearistocracy re+emer$ed as the idea of top mana$ers

*ecomin$ si$nificant o ners of a ne company#And the idea of treatin$ these monarchicalBaristocraticri$hts as property makin$ them hereditary re+emer$ed asthe economic idea of property in corporate shares thatcould *e inherited or even sold to anyone re$ardless oftheir relation to the company#

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James 0# 4uchanan on "onstitutional Ki*erty

2The )ustificatory foundation for a li*eral socialorder lies( in my understandin$( in the normative

premise that individuals are the ultimate sovereigns in matters of social or$ani@ation( thatindividuals are the *ein$s ho are entitled tochoose the or$ani@ational+institutional structuresunder hich they ill live# L22The central premise of individuals as sovereigns does allo for dele$ation of decision+makin$authority to a$ents( so lon$ as it remainsunderstood that individuals remain as principals #2

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James 0# 4uchanan on "onstitutional Ki*erty -cont#.

2The premise denies le$itimacy to all social+or$ani@ational arran$ements that ne$ate the role ofindividuals as either soverei$ns or as principals#2 34uchanan(James 0# 6777# The &ogical 'oundations of %onstitutional &i(erty: The %ollected

)or"s of *ames M+ ,uchanan -ol+ . ( p# 99

Thus democratic classical li*eralism 2denies le$itimacy2to the employment contract since it is an alienation( not adele$ation# The employees are not principals and theemployer is not their dele$ate#The people orkin$ in a company should *e the citi/ens in the company as an economic+repu*lic( not the su*)ects

here 2Feudalism has only moved indoors#2 -"ornuelle.

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A very different non0democratic civic repu*lican analysis

There is a current *ody of li*ertarian thou$htto or$ani@e cities or states as stockcorporations( e#$#( startup cities#

People livin$ there are su*)ects( not citi@ens#>overnance ri$hts held *y stock+holders#4ut then the city+ or state+corporation sets up a&tock 1 nership Plan -&1P. so su*)ects can

*ecome part+o ners of their city or state#This is not ho civic repu*licanism asimplemented in America#

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The irony of de*ates a*out orkplace democracy

&o many ho loudly claim alle$iance to the anti+monarchical repu*lican herita$e of the AmericanRevolution and to American democratic ideals in

$eneral ill immediately revert to the economicmonarchical anti+repu*lican vie s in theorkplace#The true heirs of the classical repu*lican anddemocratic ideals of the American Revolution arethose ho consistently apply its ideals to hat

people do all day lon$( i#e#( to the orkplace#