綜論德國產業民主運作模式

「民主」一辭具有多重的意涵與多元的實踐方式。有謂民主就是「民有、民治、民享」，有謂具有「選舉、罷免、創制、複決」、「少數服從多數，多數尊重少數」、「制衡」、「分權」、「協商」等之體制、程序與行動內涵始有民主可言，有謂民主就是人民在社會上享有平等參與公共事務決策之權利。

Germany was the first country in the world to establish a system of industrial democracy. During its two-stage implementation from after World War Two up to the present, the system has undergone considerable development and much experience has been accumulated in its application. It has become an important mechanism for safeguarding workers’rights, creating a personalized working environment, raising the quality of labor, promoting labor-management relations, enhancing social harmony, and stabilizing social development, in realizing the social market economic system’s pursuit of democracy, unity, justice, and shared affluence in German society.
At present, Taiwan’s system of industrial democracy is still in its infancy. To help Taiwan learn from the German experience, this study presents a comprehensive examination of the operating model for industrial democracy in Germany, starting with a brief overview of its development and a description of its legal basis, and then proceeding to look at various aspects of its implementation and the main substance of measures adopted to put it into effect. In particular, this paper provides a detailed explanation of the management strata of enterprises (factory sites) and the governance strata of corporate entities under the German model.