I don't think that giving everyone a vote makes them suddenly driven to inform themselves. For instance, in your average co-op do all the guys on the bottom rung understand what Return on Equity is and its relevance to long term strategy? I can't imagine that they do. But the C-Suite does.
Look at democracy in governments. We have a lot of data about that. Giving everyone a vote certainly doesn't drive them to make informed voting decisions. After all, the average American seems to think that the president controls gas prices.
Yes, in a well-run co-op, all people understand return on equity and other such concepts relevant to long-term strategy. Why? Because they apply such techniques locally (to their department) as well as globally (for the entire company, and in society at large).
You might think my qualification of "well-run" co-op is a bit of a "no true Scotsman", but the fact is that in all forms of business, there are well run ones and badly run ones. A feudal C-suite does not universally understand things like return on equity – in fact, I suspect, many companies are run feudally with a C-suite that has no idea what they are doing.
Look at democracy in governments. We have a lot of data about that. Giving everyone a vote certainly doesn't drive them to make informed voting decisions. After all, the average American seems to think that the president controls gas prices.