The Erb Principles for Corporate Political Responsibility

This report addresses the impact of increased political polarization and decreased trust in government, which has resulted in policy differences that affect long-term business planning. To take initiative, companies should rethink their approach to PAC giving and lobbying to support bipartisanship, systemic change, and a positive social impact. 

This note acknowledges the increased pressure on business to engage in politics and counsels corporate restraint.

To better understand how businesses are navigating this toxic political environment, Business for America (BFA) surveyed more than 50 business leaders across the country and across sectors, from Fortune 500 company executives to small business owners. This report shares the results of that survey and provides key take-aways for business leaders.

Conducting corporate climate policy engagement positively and appropriately is critical to creating the conditions that will enable a company to achieve its net zero transition.  This briefing, produced by the Climate Governance Initiative in collaboration with the global think tank InfluenceMap, highlights the key issues that board directors should be aware of.  

An overview of the need for CPR and how the Erb Institute’s Corporate Political Responsibility Taskforce supports companies in aligning their approaches to political influence with their commitments to purpose, values, sustainability and stakeholders, while contributing to rebuilding trust in US civic institutions. 

This article argues that corporate governance need to take account of a company's political responsibility and that the Erb Principles provide a helpful framework for doing so. 

This article argues that "corporations were never supposed to write the rules of the game. Now they need to help make them better for capitalism to survive."

This post summarizes the Center for Political Accountability’s Guide to Corporate Political Spending, which provides best practices for implementing the CPA-Zicklin Model Code. The Model Code identifies a company’s broader societal and democracy obligations and responsibilities that should govern its political spending decisions. This new Guide spells out what concrete steps and actions management should follow as it makes spending decisions and evaluates the accompanying risks. 

This is a tracker of the latest federal and state-level investigations in the U.S. into ESG practices and initiatives.

This guide provides a good overview of how the current environment developed for companies and some tips that business leaders can use to navigate through the conflicting pressures.

This report explores the financial impacts of growing political instability in the U.S., emphasizing how shifts in policy and governance affect corporate decision-making, risk assessment, and long-term value. It outlines the importance of aligning business strategies with evolving political landscapes to protect financial interests. 

This report argues free enterprise supports both individual prosperity and societal well-being, advocating for competitive markets over government intervention to ensure long-term economic growth.

This framework guides companies to align lobbying with climate goals, focusing on transparent reporting, board oversight, and annual reviews to support efforts to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C.

This report outlines how corporate greenwashing tactics have become more sophisticated, shifting from exaggerated claims to subtler misrepresentations and legal obfuscation. It highlights emerging regulatory gaps, critiques industry self-regulation, and calls for more robust public accountability frameworks to ensure environmental claims align with actual business practices. 
 

This article explores the need for companies to think about political responsibility, not just social responsibility.

This article summarizes the rationale for corporate political responsibility and explains the four Erb Principles, which are an actionable, non-partisan template that companies can use to decide whether and how to engage in political influence.  

This paper provides a deep and detailed examination of how economies and businesses fare under leaders who purport to be both pro-business and populist. With the increase in the number of populist leaders throughout the world, this question has become increasingly pressing. 

In this article the authors highlight how the Erb Principles for Corporate Political Responsibility identify common ground between the debate about shareholder value versus stakeholder considerations, and offer a roadmap for more responsible participation by businesses in our political system. 

Provides investors with a structured approach to responsible investment, considering investment beliefs, stewardship, fiduciary duty, governance roles, and public disclosure.