section_path: Non-governmental democracy
section_name: Non-governmental democracy
paragraph_text: Non-governmental democracy
  
  Aside from the public sphere, similar democratic principles and mechanisms of voting and representation have been used to govern other kinds of groups. Many non-governmental organisations decide policy and leadership by voting. Most trade unions and cooperatives are governed by democratic elections. Corporations are ultimately governed by their shareholders through shareholder democracy. Corporations may also employ systems such as workplace democracy to handle internal governance. Amitai Etzioni has postulated a system that fuses elements of democracy with sharia law, termed Islamocracy. There is also a growing number of Democratic educational institutions such as Sudbury schools that are co-governed by students and staff.