ReportBrookings Institution, States United Democracy Center

The Financial and Economic Dangers of Democratic Backsliding

Layna Mosley, 2023

https://statesunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/THE-FINANCIAL.pdf

This report presents robust global data showing that political polarization—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 authors urge businesses and investors to prepare by factoring polarization into their strategic planning and recognizing it as a material driver of market performance not just a political issue.

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Books (11)

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ReportEdelman

2025 Edelman Trust Barometer

2025

This report reveals a decline in trust, and how majorities now hold grievances against governments, business and the rich. Historically strong trust in “my employer” is complicated when employees hold grievances. Argues that business should respond in concert with other actors, investing in local communities, quality information, and job skills.

WebsiteUS White House

AI for the American People

2025

The White House AI portal lays out a a multi-pronged national strategy to boost U.S. leadership in AI by investing in research, encouraging adoption across industries, and preparing the workforce for AI-driven changes. It highlights a commitment to developing AI responsibly by setting ethical guidelines, ensuring transparency and privacy, and fostering cooperation across government agencies to address risks and build public trust.

ReportListen First Project and Civic Health Project

America's Bridge-building Movement: Strengthening the Fabric of One Nation, Indivisible

2025

This report highlights the growing bridge-building movement in the United States and provides concrete examples of organizations doing this work in different settings, including policymaking, workplaces, faith communities, education, and volunteering.

ArticleGallup

Americans Still Want Business to Stay Quiet on Public Policy

Zach Hrynowski, 2025

A Gallup-Bentley University survey shows that only 38% of U.S. adults believe businesses should take public stances on current events, a decline from 48% the previous year, reflecting a broader trend toward preferring corporate neutrality in political matters.

ToolB Labs

B Labs Standard for Government Affairs

Grace Son, 2025

This framework sets new B Corp certification requirements for responsible lobbying and public policy engagement, including public disclosure of lobbying activities and country-by-country tax reporting. It also mandates that companies engage in at least two collective actions that support social and environmental goals, enhancing transparency and accountability in government affairs as part of fulfilling a beneficial purpose.

ReportThe Erb Institute CPR Taskforce

Bringing Corporate Political Responsibility into Business School Classrooms

Gabriel Correa Acosta, 2025

Written as a CPR Independent Study project at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, this report outlines ways to bring CPR concepts into five areas of the business school curriculum, including: Business Law and Ethics Courses, Business Economics and Policy Courses; Finance Courses; Business Strategy Courses; and Business and Society, Social Responsibility and Sustainability Courses. Drawing on the Erb CPR Principles the report outlines detailed suggestions for "caselets" and videos that are most relevant for each topic area, as well as sample discussion questions.

ReportThe Erb Institute CPR Taskforce

Corporate Political Responsibility Caselets for the Classroom

2025

Twelve short cases to help business educators spark discussion around management dilemmas related to corporate political responsibility. Each caselet includes a few public articles, possible discussion question and links to relevant Principles for Corporate Political Responsibility. Supports the more in-depth report, Bringing CPR into the Business Classroom, by Gabriel Correa Acosta, also available in this Showcase.

ReportCenter for Political Accountability

Corporate Political Spending: What are the Real Risks?

https://www.politicalaccountability.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Real-Risks.pdf, 2025

This CPA report explains how opaque political spending—including through third-party groups—can expose companies to legal, reputational, operational, and financial risks. It underscores the importance of consistent governance and transparency across all political giving, noting that these risks apply regardless of issue or party .

ReportGovernance Studies at Brookings

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

Edited by Norman Eisen & Jonathan Katz, 2025

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.

ReportColumbia Center on Sustainable Investment

Distinguishing Among Climate Change-Related Risks

Lisa Sachs, Denise Hearn, Matt Goldklang, and Perrine Toledano, 2025

Recognizing that climate-related risks are complicated, this brief disaggregates climate risks into three categories (planetary, economic, and financial) to then map those risks to which stakeholders are best positioned to address them. The article explains the importance of this disaggregation to facilitate intended outcomes and avoid unintended consequence.

ReportOxford Martin School, University of Oxford

Examining AI Safety as a Global Public Good: Implications, Challenges, and Research Priorities

Kayla Blomquist et al, 2025

This publication frames AI safety as a critical global public good, highlighting challenges in balancing innovation with robust safety measures, ensuring international cooperation, and promoting equity so AI benefits align with sustainable development goals. It calls for clear accountability alongside shared responsibility through collaborative governance to manage AI risks worldwide

ArticleMaslansky + Partners

Five Corporate Communication Strategies that Won’t Work in 2025

Lee Carter, 2025

The authors believe it is imperative to stay in the conversation about changes to the business environment because of this new administration, but we need to move on from “Making the Problem Too Big”, “Ignoring Popular Sentiment”, “Failing to Find Common Ground”, “Not Telling Your Story”, and “Talking About All the Good You’re Doing in the World.”

ArticleHarvard Business Review

Getting Strategic About Sustainability

Jason Jay, Kate Isaacs and Hong Linh Nguyen, 2025

This article presents a framework leaders can use to better focus their sustainability strategies. It consists of four lenses: the business value lens (What affects our bottom line?), the stakeholder influence lens (What are people trying to tell us?), the science and technology lens (What does the data tell us about our impact and future?), and the purpose lens (What do we stand for?). The framework is intended to help leaders balance external pressures with internal priorities and objective data with stakeholder perceptions.

ToolCenter for Political Accountability

Guide to Becoming a Framework Company

2025

The CPA-Zicklin Framework for Corporate Political Spending was developed to help companies manage the risks associated with election-related spending. The Framework provides twelve provisions that companies can implement to help better engage in and manage election-related spending.

ArticleHarvard Business Review

How to Approach Business Ethics as Global Consensus Breaks Down

Richard Bistrong and Anna Romberg, 2025

This piece explores how companies can maintain ethical business practices as geopolitical tensions and authoritarianism erode global consensus on anti-corruption and rule of law. The authors argue that compliance systems alone are insufficient and call for stronger values-driven leadership, cross-border ethical alignment, and proactive stakeholder engagement to navigate growing political and moral complexity.

ArticleMIT Sloan Management Review

How to Strategize in an Out-of-Control World

Adam Job, Nikolaus S. Lang, Ulrich Pidun, and Martin Reeves, 2025

Addresses the increasing role that political turbulence is having on corporations’ ability to accomplish strategic objectives and tips for navigating external political uncertainty.

ReportEarth4All, the Predistribution Initiative, Beyond Bretton Woods, and Africa Investor

Investing to reconnect financial value with people, nature, and the real economy

Delilah Rothenberg, Hubert Danso, Frank Van Gansbeke, 2025

This deep-dive paper is a collaboration between Earth4All, the Predistribution Initiative (PDI), Beyond Bretton Woods (BBW), and Africa Investor (Ai) and focuses on the role that capital markets investors can play in building a more regenerative and inclusive economy that supports the long-term wellbeing of people and nature. Building on the 2022 report to The Club of Rome, Earth for All: A Survival Guide for Humanity, this paper provides concrete proposals for how institutional investors can support systemic change.

VideoUnite America

Majority Rules 101 (Director's Cut)

2025

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.

ArticleMedium

Meeting the moment: Economic and financial reform in the age of populism and the polycrisis

Delilah Rothenberg, 2025

This piece argues that capitalism’s existing rules often deepen inequality and systemic risks, but by changing those rules to focus on upfront redistribution of wealth, power, and opportunity—a “predistribution” approach—inequality can be meaningfully reduced. It urges institutional investors to lead reforms that reshape capitalism for a fairer, more resilient economy instead of reacting only after crises occur.

ToolThird Side Strategies

Mitigating the Ultimate Systemic Risk: Key Questions Investors Should be Asking about Public Affairs Governance Right Now

Lauren Caplan, 2025

As investors increasingly focus on systemic risks, few risks are as consequential as the weakening of democratic institutions and the rule of law -- or today’s once-in-a-generation operational and strategic challenges from AI, an increasingly chaotic political environment, and more. Yet, as an investor, it can be difficult to translate these systemic risks into concrete actions. Focusing on public affairs governance – how companies make decisions about whether and when to engage in the public sphere, can be one helpful lens.

This new tool from Third Side Strategies helps investors to ask sharper questions—of companies and of themselves. It introduces the concept of CPR Governance (a set of best practices for whether and when to engage in the public sphere) which helps investors in two ways: (i) prompting companies to think more concretely about their public affairs practices and strengthen any areas of weakness highlighted by the questions, and (ii) providing investors the information needed to more effectively manage this systemic risk across their portfolio.

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