Strike Ballots, Democracy, and Law

International law and most national legal systems recognize the right to strike as a fundamental human right. However, the most common qualification for a strike is that the action must first be approved by ballot. These types of requirements are often said to be necessary to protect the democratic rights of the workers - the so-called democratic imperative. But is that truly their aim? This book draws on detailed empirical study of the Australian legislative provisions for pre-strike ballo...