Corporate Political Influence Today

Adam Winkler & Vikramaditya Khanna

Video 2 of 3

On February 10, 2022, we spoke with Adam Winkler, UCLA law and Vikramaditya Khanna, Michigan Law to explore “CPR & The History of Corporate Political rights.”

When we talk about the rights and power of corporations to exert in politics, it can be tricky and complicated because allowing corporations to vote could be a double-edged sword. To influence government policies, corporations spend the most expenditures in regulation and enforcement. Sometimes corporations do realize the misalignment of their activities and try to do well, but corporations often face challenges. Thinking about how to pass the information to people who have incentives to change the misalignment would be the key.

In this module, we explore:

• Why can’t corporations vote?
• How legal changes and other trends have impacted corporate political influence in practice?

The Corporate Political Responsibility Taskforce (CPRT)’s Expert Dialogues are in-depth, recorded conversations with academic experts, stakeholder advocates and business practitioners to provide our members and other CPR champions with the expertise and context they need to develop principled, proactive CPR strategies. We invite those interested in a constructive, non-partisan, principles-based discussion.

KEYWORDS: #CorporatePoliticalResponsibility #ESG #CivicEngagement #Democracy