"AMA 2004 Survey on Political Discussions in the Workplace"
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American Management Association, October 2004.
According to the American Management Association’s “2004 Survey on Political Discussions in the Workplace,” 45 percent of companies have no written policies prohibiting the distribution or posting of partisan political material in the office. Forty percent of employees surveyed said that their employers did have such written policies, while another 15 percent were unsure.
The study suggests that, in spite of the heated nature of this election, political discourse appears to be remarkably civil inside the workplace. The survey reports that 74 percent of all workers felt somewhat to very comfortable sharing their political views with their colleagues, and a surprising 65 percent felt somewhat to very comfortable sharing their views with their superiors. Twenty-two percent of respondents said their bosses did not discuss their political views with them and those surveyed reported even fewer executives (13 percent) recommending their employees vote for a particular candidate. Surprisingly, only 8 percent of workers said that they were aware of their organization making contributions to a particular party. And while the electorate is increasingly polarized and the 2004 election has been viewed as particularly momentous, few organizations (13 percent) are holding off on important business decisions pending the outcome of the race.
