ABSTRACT
Disproportional empowerment means that empowerment and disempowerment are distributed systematically unequally among the members of a social system; certain people are empowered or empower themselves, and certain others are dis-empowered or dis-empower themselves. The possibility – or threat – of the disproportional empowerment of the few, corrupt behaviour, concentration of power, and abuse of power is always present. Disproportional empowerment is thereby institutionalised not only in the organisation’s structures and processes but also in people’s hearts and minds. The more unequally a social system is structured, i.e. the greater the disproportional empowerment, the greater is the possibility of misbehaviour such as abuse of power. Empowerment and participation are then nothing more than mere buzzwords and window-dressing exercises to cover up authoritarian and oligarchic leadership, individuals’ attempts to gain power, greater control and surveillance of employees, and oppressive work regimes.
