Democratic Ownership

With oil prices collapsing and firms’ market values plunging, the government can once again use a policy weapon that has in the past been successful in overcoming social and economic unrest. read more

We need to build a digital landscape that provides world-class connection to all and is sustainable, privacy-enhancing, rights-preserving, innovative, and democratic by design. This report makes the case for democratic public ownership of the foundational digital infrastructures of the 21st century. read more

Instead of bailing out the fossil fuel industry in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, the U.S. government should assert long-term ownership and control of the industry to ensure an eventual managed phase-out of coal, oil, and gas production. read more

The United States has a long and rich tradition of nationalizing private enterprise, especially during times of economic and social crisis. read more

This response to the Labour Party’s Consultation on Democratic Public Ownership sets out the key features of what existing research and experience tells us works for creating democratic forms of public enterprise. read more

An introduction to the various (and often complementary) models for creating ownership funds at different scales and with different characteristics, designed to reshape company ownership so that it is democratic, inclusive, and purposeful by design.  read more

Giving workers a right of first refusal when their workplace is being sold could be an incredibly powerful and popular way to expand the democratic economy. read more

A comparative analysis of the ability of investor-owned and publicly owned utilities to achieve the conditions for energy democracy. read more

For-profit energy utilities exercise their political and economic power to roll back climate regulation. Transitioning energy utilities to public ownership could help dismantle barriers to climate action and catalyze the redesign of power generation and distribution. A movement could simultaneously harness the opportunity for more democratic engagement in public utilities to accelerate energy democracy, while also taking for-profit utilities into community hands to reorient their focus towards the public good. read more