The Citizen's Share: Putting Ownership Back into Democracy - Hardcover

Joseph R. Blasi, J. Robert Beyster Professor and sociologist, and Douglas L. Kruse, professor and economist, are both at the School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers University. Richard B. Freeman is Herbert Ascherman Professor of Economics at Harvard University.

“America used to be based on broad access to wealth and property. If you want to know more about this tradition, and how to revive it, read this book.”—Thomas Piketty, author of Capital in the Twenty-First Century (Thomas Piketty)

“Citizens should know about The Citizen’s Share--it’s important. And there is no better trio than Blasi, Freeman, and Kruse to tell them about it.”--Alan Blinder, Princeton University (Alan Blinder)

“The proposal . . . stands apart from alternate policy initiatives . . . because it addresses the concentration of wealth and political power at the top. The idea of expanding employee ownership deserves serious consideration.”—Thomas B. Edsall, New York Times (Thomas B. Edsall New York Times)

“The founders . . . agreed that America would survive and thrive only if there was widespread ownership of land and businesses.  Professor Joseph R. Blasi and Douglas L. Kruse of Rutgers and Richard B. Freeman of Harvard gathered many of the founders’ writings on this topic for their book . . . Copies are currently circulating among congressional staffs in both parties as politicians brace themselves to face what polls show is a rapidly rising concern over economic growth concentrating at the top.”—David Cay Johnston, Newsweek (David Cay Johnston Newsweek)

"The Citizen's Share provides a thoughtful . . . analysis of the benefits of encouraging greater employee ownership of businesses . . . In seeking to increase employee compensation as well as tax reform, Washington should be thinking hard about how to expand and encourage greater employee ownership and/or revenue sharing."—Dean Zerbe, Forbes Magazine
(Dean Zerbe Forbes Magazine)

“This provocative study exposes a long-lost history of successful profit-sharing within U.S. capitalism.  Good business (not conscience), the authors argue, holds the promise of a more equal and therefore more democratically organized society. This is an optimistic, but eminently plausible scenario.”―Alice Kessler-Harris, author of In Pursuit of Equity: Women, Men and the Quest for Economic Citizenship in Twentieth Century America (Alice Kessler-Harris)

“A model of sober scholarly analysis and impassioned political advocacy. . . . Here is a book on economic policy that might make the Founding Fathers smile”—Jonathan I. Levy, author of Freaks of Fortune: The Emerging World of Capitalism and Risk in America. (Jonathan I. Levy)

"An accessible, and informative, story of government and business support for worker ownership . . . . Spotlights an important area of American economic history."—Library Journal (Library Journal)

“This book offers the compelling vision of a better healthier American economy founded on the basic principles of employee ownership and profit sharing.  The deep-rooted history of this American vision is elegantly interwoven with the results of modern rigorous research.  The Citizen’s Share is a wonderfully readable book with an important message that will provoke serious thought and discussion.” ―Martin L. Weitzman, Professor of Economics, Harvard University. (Martin L. Weitzman)

“A few years ago, Blasi, Kruse, and Freeman caught people’s attention with an intriguing thesis: that a company performs better when owned by its workers . In this book, the authors go a step further. They make the interesting and provocative claim that worker ownership also improves democracy. Readers may disagree with the conclusion, but they will want to understand the argument.” ―Eric S. Maskin, Nobel laureate in Economics, Harvard University
(Eric S. Maskin)