This analysis makes clear that, in the industrial context, the terms
'participation' and 'democracy' cannot be used interchangeably: they are
not synonyms. Not only is it possible for partial participation at both
management levels to take place without a democratisation of authority
structures, but it is also possible for full participation to be introduced
at the lower level within the context of a non-democratic authority
strUctUre overall. This has significance for the participatory theory of
democracy. In that theory the implication is that to obtain the required
psychological effect from participation, for the sense of political competence or efficacy to be developed, democratisation, i.e. full participation
at the higher level, is required. In the contemporary theory of democracy,
on the other hand, it is suggested that 'social training' is possible inside existing industrial authority structures. A consideration of the relationship
between the psychological effects that have been found to accrue from participation, and the different forms of participation shows that the participatory theory of democracy requires modification in this respect. Perhaps the
most striking fact that emerges from the empirical evidence is that participation is -apparendy so effective in its psychological impact on individuals
even in the smallest possible doses; it appears that even the mere feeling
that participation is possible, even situations of pseudo-participation,
have beneficial effects on confidence, job satisfaction, etc.t It would be
reasonable to suppose that actual participation would be more effective-if
only because pseudo-participation may well raise expectations that could
only be frustrated; as Blumberg says (1968, p. 79) so f.ar as the psychological effects are concerned, the empirical evidence shows that 'what is
crucial .•• is the ability and power of a group to arrive at a decision'.
Lower level partial participation is certainly favourable for the develop