Private Government audiobook cover - How Employers Rule Our Lives (and Why We Don't Talk about It)

Private Government

How Employers Rule Our Lives (and Why We Don't Talk about It)

Elizabeth Anderson

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Categories:
PoliticsEconomicsCorporate Culture

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Private Government
The Illusion of the Free Labor Market+
Workplaces as Communist Dictatorships+
Extreme Employer Power+
The Myth of Quitting+
Private vs. Public Government+
Democratizing the Workplace+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 9
Why does the author compare modern capitalist workplaces to 'communist dictatorships'?
  • A. Because modern workplaces seek to eliminate the concept of private property and wealth accumulation.
  • B. Because they rely on central planning, unelected leaders who issue top-down orders, and strict surveillance of workers.
  • C. Because both systems guarantee lifetime employment and basic housing in exchange for absolute loyalty.
  • D. Because corporate profits are centrally collected and distributed equally among all members of the organization.
Question 2 of 9
According to defenders of capitalism, workers are free because they can simply quit their jobs. Why does the author argue this 'freedom to quit' is highly constrained?
  • A. Most workers are legally bound to lifetime employment contracts that prohibit resignation.
  • B. Quitting often means wielding the employer's greatest weapon of coercion—loss of livelihood and benefits—against oneself.
  • C. Government regulations strictly limit the number of times a citizen can change industries.
  • D. Corporate monopolies have eliminated all competing businesses, leaving only one employer per industry.
Question 3 of 9
Under 'at-will' employment in the United States, what is an employer generally legally permitted to do?
  • A. Fire an employee for almost any reason, including their off-duty political activities or social media posts.
  • B. Force an employee to work indefinitely without the legal right to resign.
  • C. Pay an employee below the federal minimum wage during times of economic hardship.
  • D. Exempt themselves from federal laws regarding racial and gender discrimination.
Question 4 of 9
How does the author redefine or clarify the word 'government' to apply it to the workplace?
  • A. It strictly refers to the state, its elected officials, and public institutions.
  • B. It applies exclusively to entities that have the legal authority to levy taxes.
  • C. It refers to any person or group that has the power to order others around and punish them for disobedience.
  • D. It is a metaphorical term used solely to describe the invisible hand of market dynamics.
Question 5 of 9
What specifically makes the government of a modern workplace a 'private' government rather than a 'public' one?
  • A. It is funded entirely by private investors rather than taxpayer money.
  • B. Its goods and services are sold strictly to private consumers rather than government agencies.
  • C. It operates in secret and is not required to publish its internal financial records.
  • D. It excludes the governed (the workers) from having a voice or access to the decision-making process.
Question 6 of 9
What does the author suggest as the primary solution to the problem of private government in the workplace?
  • A. Abolishing all hierarchical management structures to allow for unregulated, self-directed work.
  • B. Giving workers a democratic voice in how their companies are run, such as through union representation or codetermination.
  • C. Passing legislation that guarantees every citizen a universal basic income so no one has to work.
  • D. Encouraging all employees to quit their corporate jobs and start their own small businesses.
Question 7 of 9
Why does workplace authoritarianism often go ignored in academic and public discourse?
  • A. Higher-income professionals, who shape much of the discourse, rarely experience the severe workplace abuses faced by lower-wage workers.
  • B. Most workers are completely satisfied with their working conditions and feel no need to complain.
  • C. Employers rarely possess the actual legal rights to enforce strict workplace rules, making the threat entirely theoretical.
  • D. The media is heavily censored by the state to suppress any complaints about corporate governance.
Question 8 of 9
Why did early capitalist thinkers, like those in the 17th and 18th centuries, view the free market as a force of human liberation?
  • A. They envisioned a society where everyone worked for a large, benevolent, and highly regulated corporation.
  • B. They believed the free market would naturally lead to the creation of labor unions and a four-day workweek.
  • C. The market offered an escape from the entrenched, authoritarian hierarchies of lords, masters, and guilds.
  • D. The market promised to rapidly accelerate technological growth, eliminating the need for any manual human labor.
Question 9 of 9
According to the text, how did the Industrial Revolution undermine Adam Smith's early promises of the capitalist market?
  • A. It introduced large-scale manufacturing that required massive start-up capital, making independent self-employment impossible for most people.
  • B. It caused a massive decrease in the overall wealth and productivity of Western nations, leading to widespread poverty.
  • C. It led to the immediate establishment of strict government regulations that stifled all small business innovation.
  • D. It eliminated the division of labor, forcing individuals to produce goods entirely on their own from start to finish.

Private Government — Full Chapter Overview

Private Government Summary & Overview

Private Government (2017) boldly asserts a provocative thesis: most modern companies are run more like communist dictatorships than the “free enterprises” their often libertarian-minded owners, managers, and defenders believe them to be. Drawing on a wide range of ideas, facts, and data from economics, political philosophy, and history, Private Government backs this thesis up with a strong, compelling argument that’s well worth reckoning with.

Who Should Listen to Private Government?

  • Employees unhappy with their employment
  • Employers wondering why their employees might be so unhappy
  • Anyone else wanting to know what’s wrong with the modern workplace

About the Author: Elizabeth Anderson

Elizabeth Anderson is a professor of philosophy and women’s studies at the University of Michigan. Her research encompasses a broad range of topics within political philosophy, ethics, and feminist theory, including egalitarianism, democracy, and market society. Her previous books include Value in Ethics and Economics and The Imperative of Integration, which won the American Philosophical Association's 2011 Joseph B. Gittler Award, for providing “an outstanding scholarly contribution in the field of the philosophy of one or more of the social sciences.”

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