Corporate Political Responsibility

What It Is: A 2026 solutions brief in the Sustaining Capitalism series summarizing why free and fair elections matter for democracy and a stable economy. Includes a comprehensive Report, Infographic and Elections Toolkit with background, recommendations and best practices for business leaders and election administration.

Why It Matters: Outlines how a secure, credible, and accessible electoral system builds the business confidence companies need to operate with trust in governance and engage in shaping policy. Also provides background on the declining public confidence ahead of the 2026 midterms and the need to ensure strong administration, understanding of federal, state and local roles and information integrity.

How to Use It: Consider reviewing the Report and using the accompanying Elections Toolkit to take three actions: 1) Proactively encourage employee and community voting in a nonpartisan way; 2) Support election administration by recruiting poll workers and offering flexible scheduling; and 3) Share trusted, official information to counter any election-related mis- and disinformation.

What It Is: A curated resource page  offering seven concrete strategies for building a "voter culture" at work, plus links to five vetted digital tools — including: BallotReady, Civic Alliance, Motivote, Time To Vote, and VoteAmerica — that companies can deploy to support employee voter turnout. 

Why It Matters: BFA grounds its case in concrete workplace data: work commitments are consistently cited as a top barrier to voting, while "my employer" ranks among the most trusted institutions, well above government and media. That combination gives Legitimacy to employer-led civic engagement — a trusted messenger removing a documented practical barrier, rather than a company taking a political stance. 

How to Use It: Pick one or two of the five listed tools: and pair with BFA's 7 strategies to build a simple internal civic engagement plan ahead of the midterms. 

What It Is: A research initiative from UC San Diego's Yankelovich Center, run with MIT's Election Data Science Lab and Johns Hopkins' SNF Agora Institute, testing which communication strategies actually build voter trust in elections and publishing both peer-reviewed studies and short practitioner briefs. 

Why It Matters: Offers concrete, usable findings — such as the value of state-produced informational videos that increase trust in that state's own election process, and the power of advanced messages to give voters accurate information about election processes to avoid unnecessary distrust (referred to as “pre-bunking”).  

How to Use It: Review and select specific briefs to inform how your organization communicates with employees about election timelines and results. 

What It Is: A set of conservative-specific principles for building election trust, developed by Johns Hopkins' SNF Agora Institute and the R Street Institute through a year of off-the-record convenings with Republican elected officials, election administrators, and scholars across four states, released alongside original Gallup-Johns Hopkins polling on conservative confidence in U.S. elections. 

Why It Matters: Reflects a thoughtful consensus among knowledgeable conservative leaders on how to address the 40% of Republicans say they're very or somewhat confident in the accuracy of U.S. elections, down from nearly 90% in 2006.   Outlines three commonsense principles that can help leaders speak to voters with concerns: 1) Publicly affirming the security and integrity of elections across the U.S. and avoiding fueling doubt about elections in other jurisdictions 2) Using transparency and public outreach to reassure voters of election integrity. 3) Championing policy changes that can help build trust in the elections system.  

How to Use It: Consider referencing the principles to demonstrate actions to address voter concerns and using them to guide information provided to employees. Read the full statement of principles for language and specifics to adapt.

What It Is: A 2026 book by Eric Ries, founder of the Lean Startup movement and the Long-Term Stock Exchange, arguing that companies drift from their mission not through bad actors but through poorly designed governance systems — ownership structures, incentives, and decision-making rules that that lack the structural integrity to defend against internal and external pressures. 

Why It Matters: Ries reframes governance as a design problem rather than a  compliance exercise, arguing that Accountability to the mission has to be built into a company's structure — charters, voting rights, incentive design — rather than added on after mission drift has already happened.  This same lens can be applied to Public Affairs Governance, as drift here is especially damaging to credibility.

How to Use It: Use it to prompt discussions with boards and founders about potential mission drift, and timely redesign of governance structures – including Public Affairs Engagement Policies.

What It Is: A June 2026 Directors & Boards article documenting how corporate political spending oversight has shifted from a government-relations function to a board-level governance priority, citing the CPA-Zicklin Index's tracking of disclosure and accountability practices at major public companies. 

Why It Matters: Companies rated "trendsetters" for political spending disclosure and board oversight grew from 28 to 112 over the past decade — a 400% increase — reflecting a shift toward Accountability and Transparency achieved through "private ordering" (companies self-regulating) rather than government mandate. 

How to Use It: Use this to benchmark your company's political spending policy against the CPA-Zicklin Index and more recent Framework, and to make the case to your board that comprehensive oversight is now mainstream practice.