ArticleHarvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance

Emerging Governance Safeguards Against US Political Risk

Stephen Davis, 2026

https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2026/02/05/emerging-governance-safeguards-against-us-political-risk/

This article explores governance mechanisms companies are adopting to manage U.S. political risk, including board oversight structures, disclosure reforms, scenario planning, and public-affairs alignment. It highlights how escalating polarization, regulatory volatility, and election-related instability require enhanced governance safeguards to protect enterprise value.

Notes on Related Topics

Political Risk (A) – Focuses on election instability and regulatory unpredictability.
Enterprise Risk (A) – Integrates political exposure into ERM systems.

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ToolConvergence Center for Policy Resolution

Convergence Compass e-Learning Program

Convergence Center for Policy Resolution, Ongoing

Convergence Compass is an online learning program for business, government, higher education and civic actors that teaches the psychology of division, dialogue strategies, and collaborative problem-solving. Developed from the Convergence Center for Policy Resolution's innovative methods, it equips participants to build trust, bridge divides, engage constructively on contentious issues, design effective processes —even when stakeholders hold strongly divergent views.

Report

OpenSecrets.org

Center for Responsive Politics, Ongoing

OpenSecrets is a nonpartisan, nonprofit transparency platform that tracks money in U.S. politics, compiling and analyzing campaign finance, lobbying, outside spending, and personal finance data for politicians. It offers searchable tools and educational resources that reveal how money flows around elections and policymaking, supporting evidence-based oversight by media, investors, employees, and the public.

ArticleCenter for Political Accountability (CPA)

The Barbara & Morris Pearl 527 Interactive Database

Center for Political Accountability, Ongoing

This interactive database tracks corporate and individual contributions to 527 political organizations, offering transparency into issue-advocacy groups, political committees, and their funders. It enables stakeholders to analyze donation patterns, compare companies, and evaluate alignment between stated values, lobbying positions, and political spending, supporting stronger governance and oversight of political influence.

ArticleHarvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance

Emerging Governance Safeguards Against US Political Risk

Stephen Davis, 2026

This article explores governance mechanisms companies are adopting to manage U.S. political risk, including board oversight structures, disclosure reforms, scenario planning, and public-affairs alignment. It highlights how escalating polarization, regulatory volatility, and election-related instability require enhanced governance safeguards to protect enterprise value.

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.

ArticleProMarket (Stigler Center, University of Chicago Booth School of Business)

A Pro-Market Framework for Driving Decarbonization: Part I

ProMarket Contributors, 2025

This article argues that decarbonization policy should be rooted in pro-market principles that preserve competition, innovation, and price signals. It critiques subsidy-heavy approaches and proposes market-based mechanisms to accelerate emissions reductions while avoiding regulatory capture and distortion.

ArticleProMarket (Stigler Center, University of Chicago Booth School of Business)

A Pro-Market Framework for Driving Decarbonization: Part II

ProMarket Contributors, 2025

Part II extends the pro-market argument, examining governance safeguards and institutional design to prevent rent-seeking in climate policy. It stresses regulatory clarity, competition policy alignment, and safeguards against policy capture to ensure emissions-reduction efforts remain innovation-driven and economically efficient.

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.

ReportB Lab

B Lab Standards: Government Affairs & Collective Action

B Lab, 2025

The updated B Lab certification standards include a new impact topic on “Government Affairs & Collective Action”, requiring companies to disclose and govern their political engagement, advocacy, lobbying practices and collective initiatives for systems change. The changes raise expectations for transparency and accountability in how firms use their influence and voice.

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.

ReportB Lab

B Labs Standards: Government Affairs and Collective Action

B Lab , 2025

The updated B Lab certification standards include a new impact topic on “Government Affairs & Collective Action”, requiring companies to disclose and govern their political engagement, advocacy, lobbying practices and collective initiatives for systems change. The changes raise expectations for transparency and accountability in how firms use their influence and voice.

ArticleThe Conversation

Banks Retreat from Climate Change Commitments – but It’s Business More Than Politics

David L. Levy & Rami Kaplan, 2025

This article explains why major banks are abandoning the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, arguing that economics—not politics—drives the retreat. Despite political backlash, fossil fuels remain highly profitable and low-carbon transitions costly. The authors warn that banks’ short-term incentives and siloed risk management ignore long-term climate risks, exposing investors and markets to systemic instability and stranded assets.

ArticleBSR

Beyond the Business Case Debate: Reasserting the Strategic Value of Sustainability

David Korngold, 2025

BSR argues that the traditional “business case” conversation is broken and emphasizes the need for judgment to recognize sustainability’s strategic relevance. Rather than focusing narrowly on ROI, companies should integrate sustainability into core priorities—like innovation, operations, and digital transformation—positioning it as a driver of long-term value for both business and society.

ReportHarvard Corporate Governance Law Forum

Beyond the Corporate Culture Wars: How Companies Are Revolutionizing Decision-Making on Social Issue

Stavros Gadinis, 2025

The piece highlights how companies are moving beyond ad hoc responses to social issues by creating internal rules and processes that guide decision-making. These frameworks, alongside executive action and monitoring, are becoming a core part of corporate governance that boards are expected to oversee.

ReportBlackrock Investment Institute

Blackrock Geopolitical Risk Dashboard

2025

This report identifies 10 top geopolitical risks that could significantly affect companies and markets: (1) global trade protectionism, (2) Middle East regional war, (3) U.S.-China strategic competition, (4) global technology decoupling, (5) major cyber attacks, (6) major terror attacks, (7) Russia-NATO conflict, (8) emerging markets political crisis, (9) North Korea conflict, and (10) European fragmentation. For each risk, the report highlights three assets most sensitive to that scenario—such as sector-specific equities, currencies, credit spreads, or commodities—offering concrete signals businesses can monitor to assess potential impact. This framework helps firms proactively track and integrate geopolitical risk into strategic planning and risk management.

ArticleBloomberg

Bloomberg Company-Level Geopolitical Risk Scores

2025

Bloomberg’s new Geopolitical Risk Scores offer a data-driven way for companies to assess how country-level political instability—such as regulatory disruption and civil unrest—could affect operations, supply chains, and compliance. Built with Seerist threat intelligence and covering 7 million companies across 245 countries, the scores quantify 29 types of political, security, and cyber risk. Companies can track, compare, and integrate these risks into strategic planning, disclosure, and portfolio management.

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.

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