While this report more broadly assesses America’s competitiveness, Chapter 3: The Role of Business in Politics Today and Tomorrow, identifies the role of business in political gridlock, and suggests potential solutions. (See pg 28-36)

This report argues that to meet the demands of democracy, government must be reorganized to effectively carry out the goals set by the people’s representatives, and offers a four-part agenda to rebuild state capacity through hiring reform, procedural streamlining, digital modernization, and stronger feedback systems.

This policy brief outlines the challenges of AI implementation and dissemination through various sectors of society, and provides policy recommendations for how to protect privacy, safety and ethics as AI adoption grows.

What It Is: A policy hub, led by Director Wren Orey, working to strengthen public trust in elections and ensure secure, fully funded, and continually improved election systems,. that publishes ongoing research, testimony, and explainers on election administration, security, and reform, including advisory groups such as the Task Force on Elections and the Election Workforce Advisory Council.  

Why It Matters: The project spans practical, current questions — like its recent recommendations on the EAC's 2026 Election Administration and Voting Survey — giving business leaders a running, non-partisan source on the current state and any changes in election law and administration. 

How to Use It: Subscribe to BPC's Governance Policy Newsletter or bookmark the hub to track new issue briefs (e.g., the 2026 Midterms: Key Dates and Events) relevant to internal planning around election-year civic engagement. 

The Business Alliance for Elections and Democracy is a nonpartisan coalition of companies committed to supporting secure, accessible, and trusted elections in the United States. It provides guidance and collaboration opportunities for businesses seeking to strengthen election infrastructure, employee civic participation, and public confidence in democratic processes.

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. 

Civic Alliance assembled a robust playbook for companies to more representatively support a strong democracy. The playbook includes concepts to support one’s business case, questions to ask oneself in building an action plan, and concrete steps to better engage employees, consumers, and other stakeholders.

This Covington client alert reports that shareholder proposals for greater corporate political spending transparency received unusually strong support in 2025, averaging 42% compared to 26% in 2024. The alert highlights rising investor expectations shaped by the CPA-Zicklin Index and warns companies to balance transparency with legitimate confidentiality, emphasizing the governance risks of insufficient disclosure and unexamined political expenditures. 

A comprehensive evaluation of corporations that gave significant amounts of money to politicians in key swing states that supported or introduced legislation aimed at voter suppression.

This methodology outlines how the Heritage Election Integrity Scorecard evaluates state election laws across 14 criteria—such as voter roll accuracy, mail ballot security, and transparency in vote counting—to assign quantifiable scores, identify gaps, and provide model legislation. It aims to compare and improve election rules nationwide through clear, consistent, enforceable standards.

What It Is: A 2024 EconTalk podcast conversation between host Russ Roberts and Yuval Levin (American Enterprise Institute), built around Levin's book American Covenant, arguing that the Constitution's design — competition, federalism, the Electoral College, bicameralism — is meant to let a divided society "act together" without requiring everyone to think alike. 

Why It Matters: Levin's central reframe offers a broad perspective on the U.S. Constitution as incorporating dilemmas that are never fully resolved, where unity means acting together on a case-by-case basis. He argues that constitutional structures deliberately constrain majorities to protect minority interests. Useful in considering the Responsibility Principle and support for constitutional democracy.  

How to Use It: Listen to or read the transcript ahead of internal conversations about polarization or civic-engagement messaging, as a values-neutral primer on why democratic institutions are structured the way they are — useful context before wading into more contested reform debates. 

Tells the story of Alaska’s landmark adoption of open primaries and ranked-choice voting, showing how these reforms empowered broader voter participation, curbed partisan gatekeeping, and led to more representative, cross-partisan governance—offering a powerful blueprint for restoring trust in democracy. Includes an analysis of the impacts of current election processes and rules -- such as closed primaries, uncontested seats, and winner-take-all elections -- as well as the arguments against the reforms adopted in Alaska.

This series offers a retrospective on how rising political spending—especially via dark money and super PACs—is shaping public perceptions, fueling polarization, and undermining trust. It highlights record-breaking ad spending across TV and digital platforms and calls for stronger disclosure and enforcement to protect democratic integrity.

OpenSecrets is a nonpartisan, nonprofit transparency platform that tracks money in U.S. politics, compiling and analyzing campaign finance, lobbying, outside spending, and personal finance data for politicians. It offers searchable tools and educational resources that reveal how money flows around elections and policymaking, supporting evidence-based oversight by media, investors, employees, and the public.

Summarizes the results of a two-year bipartisan commission studying citizen concerns and how to revitalize democratic participation. Calls for a “fourth founding” of the United States, outlining six imperatives: achieve equal representation, empower voters, ensure political responsiveness, expand civil society, build civic information systems, and nurture a culture of commitment to democracy. 

What It Is: A July 2026 Bipartisan Policy Center report by J.D. Rackey and Lily Kincannon, based on 12 in-depth interviews with Republican and Democratic political operatives (analyzed via qualitative coding), examining how party insiders actually view their role in primaries and which electoral reforms they believe would or wouldn't strengthen political parties. 

Why It Matters: The findings are concrete and counterintuitive: every operative interviewed said party organizations exist to win elections, not to shape ideology, and most were skeptical that reforms like ranked-choice voting or nonpartisan primaries would meaningfully improve trust — favoring instead reforms that strengthen parties' own fundraising and organizing capacity. Useful in considering the Responsibility Principle and support for constitutional democracy.. 

How to Use It: Consider these perspectives in discussions with government-affairs or corporate PAC team about electoral-reform policy priorities or positions. 

This Pew Research report highlights inflation, healthcare affordability, and the federal budget deficit as top economic concerns shaping public grievances and trust in business, with money in politics emerging as a critical related issue undermining confidence in institutions.

This report provides historical context on how business–government dynamics have contributed to rising inequality and public distrust, and invites business leaders to rethink their role in helping restore trust and shape a more inclusive, sustainable capitalism.

This interactive database tracks corporate and individual contributions to 527 political organizations, offering transparency into issue-advocacy groups, political committees, and their funders. It enables stakeholders to analyze donation patterns, compare companies, and evaluate alignment between stated values, lobbying positions, and political spending, supporting stronger governance and oversight of political influence. 

Housed in Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, is an initiative to explore the role business can play to reduce polarization and improve civic dialogue. Their website offers research and data on dialogue and engagement, showcases corporate initiatives that build common purpose, features news and business leaders’ perspectives, and hosts events to equip current and future leaders to navigate polarization and foster constructive conversations.

This visual explainer by Grace Gordon of the Bipartisan Policy Center…This visual explainer clarifies the limited but critical federal role in U.S. elections, detailing responsibilities across Congress, numerous federal agencies, and the courts. It shows how authority is distributed across levels of government, equipping election stakeholders – including business -- to better use existing resources, identify opportunities for inter-agency collaboration and to advocate for needed improvements.

This report presents robust global data showing that democratic erosion—especially in advanced economies—is increasingly tied to higher costs of capital and greater economic volatility. It finds that more polarized environments tend to experience elevated equity risk premiums and reduced investment, posing long-term financial risks. The author urges businesses and investors to proactively incorporate these risks into their strategic planning, treating political instability as a material driver of market performance not just a political issue.

Based on interviews with more than 23,000 citizens across 31 countries, Ipsos finds persistent public distrust in elites, globalization, and economic systems—driving polarization across both advanced and emerging economies. These trends underscore the need for companies to account for public sentiment and political division when shaping public affairs strategies and stakeholder engagement, especially in regions where legitimacy and trust are increasingly strained.

Allstate’s 2025 research finds that trust in America is at a tipping point. While only 41% of Americans trust people across the U.S., the majority remain optimistic about their communities. The report emphasizes that rebuilding trust starts locally through engagement, leadership, and connection, and offers a three-part strategy: fostering interpersonal trust, investing in community leadership, and scaling trust-building efforts to strengthen democracy and economic resilience