Corporate Political Participation in the United States
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Authors
Martin, Susan A.
Issue Date
1980
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
First, one might question
whether it is necessary and desirable for business firms, as
a matter of corporate policy, to engage in politics. Secondly,
given the fact of corporate political involvement, is
such involvement ethically legitimate- "rightful?" Related
issues include the manner of corporate political participation, the costs and benefits involved, the objectives of the company, the existence of policy alternatives, and the rationale
underlying corporate activities. These issues will be explored in the following pages. Major attention will be focused on the issues of democratic
principles and the legitimacy of the corporate pursuit of
a place in the political arena. Various theories expanding
the ideas sketched above, will be analyzed in terms of their
reliability as models for the modern corporate world.
Ultimately, it is the purpose of this paper to use a concrete
model of corporate political participation as a test to the
various hypotheses.
Recent experience as an academic intern in General
Motors' Civic Involvement Program provided the opportunity
to compare methods of participation, informed by the Corporation's
philosophy, with the ideas put forth by numerous political
scientists. The conclusions I draw are based partly
on primary sources, including recent literature, dealing with the topic of corporate political life. The majority of the conclusions, however, are based on personal observations and
off-hand managerial comments. It must be stressed that
any statements put forth are largely the result of personal conjecture; in no way should my conclusions be held as binding upon GM or the executives quoted.
Description
iii, 46 p.
Citation
Publisher
License
U.S. copyright laws protect this material. Commercial use or distribution of this material is not permitted without prior written permission of the copyright holder. All rights reserved.