BookOxford University Press

Corporations and Persons: A Theory of the Firm in Democratic Society

David Silver , 2024

https://academic.oup.com/book/60084

This book develops a “person-based” theory of the corporation as a social and political actor within democratic society. It examines corporate personhood, legal rights, and the firm’s obligations to democratic norms, arguing that firms have specific duties beyond their business interests, or even their interests in competitive markets.

Why this resource matters
It deepens CPR’s conceptual foundation by examining the legitimate bases (and duties) that guide corporate political influence from a principled perspective.

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BookIndependent / Amazon Kindle

Bribery Beyond Borders: The Story of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

Severin Wirz, 2025

This book by Severin Wirz, an attorney specializing in U.S. and international anti-corruption law, traces the origins, enforcement, and global impact of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). It explores how anti-bribery law reshaped corporate conduct, compliance systems, and international business norms, illustrating how legal accountability mechanisms influence global markets and corporate political behavior.

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.

ReportWorld Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)

Business Breakthrough Barometer 2025

WBCSD with Bain & Company, 2025

This annual survey of over 300 global businesses across 50+ countries assesses how the private sector is acting on the net-zero transition, identifying where policy, investment, and system conditions are speeding or slowing progress. It flags how geopolitical volatility and regulatory uncertainty are influencing corporate decisions and how business sees its role in system-wide transformation.

ReportISHR

Business frameworks and actions to support human rights defenders: a retrospective and recommendations

2025

This report reviews over a decade of efforts to protect human rights and human rights defenders, emphasizing the long-standing, widely recognized field in which a variety of actors—including businesses, civil society, investors, and UN bodies—play distinct roles. It highlights progress, ongoing challenges, and the need for businesses to remember the rationale and stay committed to responsible engagement in supporting human rights defenders.

ArticleFinancial Times

Business school teaching case study: How does a multinational become a B Corp?

Gernot Wagner, 2025

This case examines the challenges multinationals face in pursuing B Corp certification, using Danone as an example. It highlights aligning global operations, governance, and stakeholder engagement with rigorous social and environmental standards, and raises the broader question: What is responsible influence on public policy for companies that have committed to sustainability?

ArticleFinancial Times

Business School Teaching Case: The Farming Subsidy Debate

Rajat Panwar, 2025

This teaching case by Rajat Panwar of Oregon State University, explores the tensions faced by companies such as Singapore’s Olam, in whether to continue to advocate for farm subsidies that benefit the industry but undermine biodiversity and raise questions about their sustainability commitments. The case challenges students to consider how, even when companies are clear about their interests in nature, taking a public stance is politically sensitive.

ArticleThe Conversation (Canada)

Businesses Have a Moral Responsibility to Stand Up to Autocrats

David Silver, University of British Columbia, 2025

Philosopher David Silver argues that corporations are not merely profit-seeking entities but moral agents responsible for defending liberal democracy when authoritarian leaders pressure them to comply. Drawing on his book Corporations and Persons: A Theory of the Firm in Democratic Society, Silver contends that businesses must resist coercion, act collectively, and uphold ethical duties that sustain free markets and democratic institutions.

ArticleJournal of Democracy

Can Capitalism Save Democracy?

Semuhi Sinanoglu, Lucan A. Way, Steven Levitsky, 2025

The article explains that capitalism and open markets can strengthen democracy by fostering pluralism, competition, and opportunities for independent groups to operate outside government control. It argues the bigger risk is when governments capture businesses through regulation, which reduces that independence and weakens democracy.

ReportWorld Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)

CEO Briefing — Business Breakthrough Barometer 2025

WBCSD, 2025

This CEO-focused briefing summarizes the Business Breakthrough Barometer’s global findings, highlighting executive insights on transition readiness, policy uncertainty, geopolitical friction, and system transformation. It distills what CEOs see as the barriers and accelerators to achieving net-zero, circularity, and nature-positive systems—and clarifies where business seeks clearer policy, capital signals, and collaborative pathways.

ArticleCovington & Burling LLP

Corporate Political Disclosure Shareholder Proposals Draw Surprising Support

Covington Public Policy & Political Law Practice, 2025

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.

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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?

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 .

ArticleAspen Institute Business & Society Program

Corporate Voice and Democratic Responsibility in 2025

Alicia Bonner & Neal Kemkar, 2025

This Aspen Business & Society Summit report explores how business leaders can safeguard democracy as political risk rises. It argues that corporate silence or partisanship threatens both markets and legitimacy, urging principled, collective action and authentic corporate voice grounded in values, courage, and preparedness—core dimensions of Corporate Political Responsibility that sustain healthy civic and economic systems.

ArticleSalon

Deliberative democracy: Sounds boring — but it just might save us

Paul Rosenburg with James Fishkin, 2025

Paul Rosenburg interviews James Fishkin, the Janet M. Peck Chair in International Communication at Stanford University where he is Professor of Communication, Professor of Political Science (by courtesy) and Director of the Deliberative Democracy Lab. Fishkin recounts a wide range of real-world deliberation experiments—including on energy and climate—that achieved policy progress by integrating representative citizen groups, expert input, and structured facilitation. The interview outlines the design conditions for those breakthroughs, which can be a source of best practices for civil society organizations, and potentially, companies.

ArticleUC Berkeley Democracy Policy Lab, Goldman School of Public Policy

Delivering on the Promises of “We the People”: Political Psychology Foundations for American Democracy Policy

David C. Wilson et al., 2025

This large-scale study of the political psychology of American democracy explores how identity, belonging, trust, and “human flourishing” shape civic engagement and perceptions of democracy. Findings reveal polarization rooted in disconnection and call for democracy policies that strengthen belonging, civic learning, and local trust—paralleling CPR’s emphasis on legitimacy, accountability, and system stewardship for a resilient democracy.

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.

ReportNational Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Effects of Human-Caused Greenhouse Gas Emissions on U.S. Climate, Health, and Welfare

2025

A study by a broad, independent panel of U.S.-based researchers to consider newly available scientific evidence on whether greenhouse gas emissions threaten human health and welfare in the United States, considering actual observed changes and human impacts compared to projected changes and impacts. Illustrates a "third side" perspective in reconsidering open questions, and offered without compensation as part of the National Academies' mission to advise government decision-making.

ReportMajority Action

Emerging Technologies, Evolving Responsibilities: Why Investors Must Act to Mitigate AI’s System-Level Impacts

Divya Sundar et al., 2025

Majority Action’s white paper warns that unchecked AI development is driving climate damage, inequality, and democratic backsliding—non-diversifiable system-level risks that threaten portfolios and the economy alike. It urges long-term investors to adopt responsible AI guardrails that limit externalized harms, promote climate and labor equity, and preserve democratic stability. The report frames investor stewardship as a critical mechanism for AI accountability and system resilience.

WebsiteResources for the Future

Evidence in a Time of Policy Extremes: Launching the If/Then Series from Resources for the Future

Carlos Martin, 2025

Resources for the Future's new series, If/Then, focuses on providing rapid, independent economic insights on the consequences of policy choices, drawing from both new and prior research. In a highly polarized environment, it aims to fill critical information gaps by making credible evidence accessible in real time to policymakers, businesses, and stakeholders navigating fast-moving debates.

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