These historical changes notwithstanding,
one cannot describe the adoption of the procedures
of democracy in corporate governance
as a straightforward process (cf. Kaufman and
Zacharias, 1992). In effect, the managerial
revolution leads to the replacement of the old
capitalist aristocracy by a new capitalist
technocracy (Stanworth and Giddens, 1974).
Although in theory
independent
of management,
in practice, the corporate board is often
controlled by a “managerial technocracy”
(Galbraith, 1967; Bourdieu, 1998). Shareowners
and other stakeholders are typically
excluded from the board in favour of managers
from other companies (Jensen and Meckling,
1973; Monks and Minow, 1995).