"AMA 2004 Survey on Political Discussions in the Workplace"
No author cited
American Management Association, October 2004.
Available Online
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.
