The article explores how employee participation influences the quality of the work environment and workers’ well-being at 11 Danish workplaces from within six different industries. Both direct participation and representative forms of participation at the workplace level were studied. Statistical as well as qualitative comparative analyses reveal that work environment quality and high levels of participation go hand in hand. Within a typology of participation models the highest level of participation, including strong elements of collective participation, and also the best work environment, measured as ‘psychosocial well-being’, were found at workplaces managed in accordance with democratic principles.

This article reviews the research literature on the relationship between employee participation, influence and the work environment. The main part of the literature points to a positive connection in line with how it has been almost institutionalized in Karasek and Theorell's demand-control model. However, more recent research into psychosocial work environment problems questions the model's assumption of high job control compensating for high job demands. Taking its point of departure in a 'deconstruction' of the concept of participation based on research on employee participation from the past few decades, the article questions why increased employee participation does not seem to result in a healthy work environment. The article concludes that there are limitations to the demandcontrol model in modern working life given the contextual changes in the employer-employee relationship, which may mean a transformation of the significance of participation.

During the past 15 years, membership rates in many unions have been declining in Denmark, Finland and Sweden. Reasons for this decline may be similar to what has happened in other countries-occupational change and neoliberal ideology and policies-but in the three Ghent countries, changes in the unemployment insurance system may also have affected trade union membership losses. The major part of the decline has taken place in a period of low unemployment, which may have reduced the employee incentive to take unemployment insurance, but will increasing unemployment rates mean more trade union members? At least for the LO-and SAK-affiliated trade unions, it seems that trade union independent unemployment funds may be alternatives for workers who take unemployment insurance.

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If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -This paper evaluates why activation programmes are still an important and core component of most European countries' social-and labour market policies when it has become increasingly clear that the employment effects are most often either unknown or very small. Design/methodology/approach -To answer this issue, an in-depth investigation of the evolution of activation programmes in the specific national context of Denmark is investigated. Findings -Charting in detail the evolution of labour market activation (or workfare) programmes in Denmark, this paper displays the ongoing intensification of activation policies and ways in which this has reduced the living standards of marginalised groups and explains this to be the result of a power block that has a wider intent of disciplining the whole workforce, not least by encouraging more people to work harder and for longer hours, and rarely with overtime compensation. Research limitations/implications -This paper explains the reasons for the continuing use of labour market insertion programmes when there is a lack of evidence that they are effective in achieving their goal of inserting people into employment. Originality/value -This paper uses the notion of a power block to understand the reasons for advanced economies persisting with labour market activation programmes.