ReportGovernance Studies at Brookings

Democracy Playbook 2025: Seven Pillars to Defend Democracy in 2025 and Beyond

Edited by Norman Eisen & Jonathan Katz, 2025

https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/v4_democracy-playbook-2025.pdf

This third edition of the Democracy Playbook offers evidence-based best practices for reversing democratic backsliding, to help citizens and stakeholders reclaim good governance, transparency, and the rule of law, and strengthen democratic resilience. It outlines how the business sector has historically supported these efforts by fighting corruption (Pillar 3) through actions like opposing state capture, supporting anti-corruption laws, and protecting whistleblowers, in addition to making democracy deliver (Pillar 7) through fair wages, labor rights, and investment in underserved communities. It calls on companies to continue this role, emphasizing that democratic stability is essential for reducing risk and sustaining long-term economic opportunity.

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ArticleHarvard Business Review

Corporate Political Spending is Bad Business

Dorothy S. Lund & Leo E. Strine, Jr., 2022

Strine and Lund argue that political spending hurts shareholder interests because it increases risks, is not transparent, and correlates with lower financial performance. They make the case that companies should either end all spending, obtain shareholder consent, or limit expenditures to PACs (which are strictly voluntary and have mandated disclosure).

VideoCorporate Political Responsibility Taskforce

CPR & Civil Society: The Role of the Private Sector in Protecting Civic Space

Bennett Freeman, 2022

VideoCorporate Political Responsibility Taskforce

CPR & Civil Society: The Role of the Private Sector in Protecting Civic Space

Bennet Freeman, 2022

VideoCorporate Political Responsibility Taskforce

CPR & Civil Society: The Role of the Private Sector in Protecting Civic Space

Bennett Freeman, 2022

VideoCorporate Political Responsibility Taskforce

CPR & Human Rights

Yousuf Aftab of Atelier Aftab, 2022

VideoCorporate Political Responsibility Taskforce

Defining and Mobilizing New Norms for CPR

Yousuf Aftab of Atelier Aftab, 2022

VideoCorporate Political Responsibility Taskforce

Defining CPR for Economic & Business Issues

Anat Admati and Jerry Davis, 2022

VideoCorporate Political Responsibility Taskforce

Distinguishing Rhetoric from True Authoritarian Threats

Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Katherine Venice, 2022

VideoCorporate Political Responsibility Taskforce

Emerging Influence Practices & Leveraging Points

Adam Winkler and Vikramaditya Khanna, 2022

VideoCorporate Political Responsibility Taskforce

Engaging the Board on Racal Equity and Policy

Cecily Joseph, Board Director of MercyCorps, 2022

VideoCorporate Political Responsibility Taskforce

ESG, Fiduciary Duty & Addressing Externalities

Josh Zinner of ICCR and John Keenan of AFSCME, 2022

VideoCorporate Political Responsibility Taskforce

Externalities, Corporate Political Influence & Risk

Josh Zinner of ICCR and John Keenan of AFSCME, 2022

VideoCorporate Political Responsibility Taskforce

Free Speech & Partisanship in the Commercial Square

Katie Harbath, Former Director of Public Policy for Facebook, 2022

ArticleChatham House

Geopolitical Corporate Responsibility Can Drive Change

Bennett Freeman, 2022

Using the exodus of companies from Russia due to the war against Ukraine, Bennett argues that, with influential economic power worldwide, multinational companies should consider a new geopolitical corporate responsibility to help support international rules-based order when it is under stress or faces challenges. He explains that this order defines the international community in which nations should respect individual sovereignty and obey the law.

ArticleHarvard Law

Good Corporate Citizenship We Can All Get Behind?: Toward A Principled, Non-Ideological Approach To Making Money The Right Way

Leo E. Strine, Jr., 2022

The article maps out a non-partisan, principled conception of good corporate citizenship drawing on shared assumptions of the right and the left about the place of corporations in our society and the realities of corporate governance. That conception concentrates on how corporations’ own conduct affects the best interests of their stockholders, workers, communities of operation, consumers, taxpayers, and the environment.

WebsiteThe Hoover Institute

Hoover Regulation and Rule of Law Initiative

Michael McConnell & Amit Seru, 2022

This initiative explores how clear, stable legal systems support freedom, innovation, and economic growth—laying the groundwork for healthy markets and democratic institutions.

VideoCorporate Political Responsibility Taskforce

How Solutions Happen

Bill Shireman of In This Together and Madeleine Para of Citizens Climate Lobby, 2022

VideoCorporate Political Responsibility Taskforce

Implications of Authoritarian Threats for Businesses

Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Katherine Venice, 2022

ArticleHarvard Business Review

Leadership in a Politically Charged Age

Nour Kteily, Eli J. Finkel, 2022

This article explores how political identity is increasingly shaping workplace dynamics and offers a leadership strategy grounded in setting clear norms, proactively addressing tensions, and fostering inclusive dialogue—an approach aligned with Third Side principles of navigating conflict through shared understanding and long-term organizational strength.

VideoCorporate Political Responsibility Taskforce

Leading & Partnering for Net Positive Advocacy

Andrew Winston, co-author of Net Positive, 2022

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