ArticleCenter for Political Accountability

The New Rules of Political Spending Oversight

David Pahlic, Bruce Freed & Karl Sandstrom, 2026

https://www.directorsandboards.com/articles/governance/the-new-rules-of-political-spending-oversight/

What It Is: A June 2026 Directors & Boards article documenting how corporate political spending oversight has shifted from a government-relations function to a board-level governance priority, citing the CPA-Zicklin Index's tracking of disclosure practices at major public companies.

Why It Matters: Companies rated "trendsetters" for political spending disclosure and board oversight grew from 28 to 112 over the past decade — a 400% increase — reflecting a shift toward Accountability and Transparency achieved through "private ordering" (companies self-regulating) rather than government mandate.

How to Use It: Use this to benchmark your company's political spending policy against the CPA-Zicklin Framework, and to make the case to your board that comprehensive disclosure is now mainstream practice, not an outlier position.

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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.

ReportCentre for Future Generations (CFG)

AI Preparedness: Robust Policy Options for Europe

David Janku et al, 2026

This report outlines policy frameworks for strengthening Europe’s preparedness and governance capacity in response to rapid advances in artificial intelligence. It examines regulatory coordination, democratic oversight, geopolitical competitiveness, and institutional resilience, arguing that AI governance must balance innovation, public trust, and long-term societal stability across economic and political systems.

WebsiteAllSides

2026

What It Is: A media bias-rating and balanced-news platform that displays the same story as covered from left, center, and right sources side by side, curated by an explicitly multipartisan editorial team using published bias-rating methodology.

Why It Matters: By exposing bias and showing how outlets frame the same story differently, AllSides gives readers an evidence-based way to evaluate information rather than relying on one source's framing .

How to Use It: Use the Bias Checker or Media Bias Chart to vet sources before sharing internally or point employees or students to the Headline Roundups as a media-literacy habit.

ArticlePolicyLink

An Explainer: How the 13th and 14th Amendments Serve as Pillars for a Nation That Governs for All

2026

This explainer outlines the historical and constitutional significance of the 13th and 14th Amendments, emphasizing their role in establishing equal protection, citizenship, and inclusive governance principles. It connects constitutional protections to contemporary debates around equity, participation, and democratic legitimacy in American civic and institutional life.

ArticleSubstack

Authoritarianism as Investor Risk

Jed Emerson, 2026

This commentary argues that rising authoritarianism represents a material risk to investors by undermining rule of law, regulatory stability, and democratic institutions. It explores how political systems influence capital markets and suggests investors and companies must incorporate governance and democracy risks into investment analysis.

WebsiteAmerican Sustainable Business Network (ASBN)

Businesses United in Leading Democracy

2026

Businesses United in Leading Democracy is a coalition initiative encouraging companies to support democratic participation, civic trust, and institutional resilience through nonpartisan engagement. The initiative promotes collaboration among businesses committed to protecting democratic norms, strengthening civic systems, and encouraging responsible corporate leadership in periods of political polarization and democratic strain.

ArticleHarvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance

Emerging Governance Safeguards Against US Political Risk

Stephen M. Davis, 2026

This article argues that US political risk is no longer an abstract concern for boards and investors – it is an immediate governance challenge. Specifically, it explores how escalating polarization, regulatory volatility, and election-related instability require enhanced governance safeguards to protect enterprise value – and proposes two tools that can help.

Why this resource matters
It outlines the rationale for embedding CPR in the governance of public affairs and recommends Third Side Strategies’ Principled Influence: A Guide to Strengthening Public Affairs Practices in Polarized Environments. (NOTE: This article is authored by Stephen M. Davis, a member of The CPR Hub’s Board of Advisors.)

ToolB Lab

GACA 1.1: How to Write a Responsible Lobbying Policy

2026

This guidance document from B Labs outlines how companies can develop responsible lobbying policies that align with new B Corp Standards, based on their stated business purpose. It provides practical recommendations on policy alignment, oversight, disclosure, and accountability mechanisms to ensure political influence activities align with the responsible lobbying policy.

ReportThe Cato Institute

How Viktor Orbán’s Hungary Eroded the Rule of Law and Free Markets

Johan Norberg, 2026

This analysis examines how Hungary’s political system under Viktor Orbán weakened democratic institutions, judicial independence, and competitive markets through centralized political and economic control. It explores the relationship between authoritarian governance, market distortion, and declining institutional accountability, highlighting implications for investors, businesses, and democratic stability.

BookEric Ries

Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad... and How Great Companies Stay Great

Eric Ries, 2026

What It Is: A 2026 book by Eric Ries, founder of the Lean Startup movement and the Long-Term Stock Exchange, arguing that companies drift from their mission not through bad actors but through poorly designed governance systems — ownership structures, incentives, and decision-making rules that that lack the structural integrity to defend against internal and external pressures.

Why It Matters: Ries reframes governance as a design problem rather than a compliance exercise, arguing that Accountability to the mission has to be built into a company's structure — charters, voting rights, incentive design — rather than added on after mission drift has already happened.

How to Use It: Use it to prompt discussions with boards and founders about potential mission drift, and timely redesign of governance structures.

ArticleJournal of Consumer Marketing

Posting and Politics: The Effects of Corporate Political Advocacy on User-Generated Content

Rong Huang; Jeffrey Wiebe; Ryan Heath, 2026

This study analyzes how corporate political advocacy influences online consumer behavior and user-generated content. It examines how political positioning by brands shapes engagement, sentiment, and digital discourse, highlighting the reputational and relational consequences of corporate participation in contentious public issues.

ArticleBusiness for Social Responsibility (BSR)

Redesigning Sustainable Business amid Global Realignment

David Korngold, Aron Cramer, 2026

This report by BSR explores how a strategic context defined by fragmentation, geopolitical tension, contested information, and uneven economic and social conditions impacts companies' sustainability strategies. As climate impacts, inequality, and technological disruption accelerate, the report argues that sustainability strategies should be sharper, more resilient, and more closely tied to enterprise priorities.

The authors also argue that business plays a critical role in safeguarding the stable operating environment and bedrock institutions necessary for its success.

ArticleYankelovich Center for Social Science Research

Results That Matter: Building Trust in Elections

2026

What It Is: A research initiative from UC San Diego's Yankelovich Center, run with MIT's Election Data Science Lab and Johns Hopkins' SNF Agora Institute, testing which communication strategies actually build voter trust in elections and publishing both peer-reviewed studies and short practitioner briefs.

Why It Matters: The research yields concrete, usable findings — 'pre-bunking' messages measurably reduce distrust of delayed results, and state-produced informational videos increase trust in that state's own election process — giving Transparency-focused communication a tested foundation rather than guesswork, directly relevant to the Legitimacy of election administration. 'Pre-bunking' refers to giving people accurate information about something before they encounter a misleading claim about it, so they're less likely to be swayed when they do.

How to Use It: Pull specific briefs (on pre-bunking messages or informational videos) to inform how your organization communicates with employees about election timelines and results.

ReportAmerican Immigration Council

The Belonging Handbook

American Immigration Council, 2026

This handbook provides practical guidance for fostering belonging, inclusion, and social cohesion across communities and institutions. It explores how organizations can strengthen trust, civic participation, and cross-cultural understanding while addressing polarization, exclusion, and identity-based division in increasingly diverse societies.

Report

The Law Firm Crisis: Lessons and Recommendations

Kathleen Hamill, 2026

This report is based on interviews with twenty-nine partners and associates from law firms that responded to 2025-26 Executive Orders and other federal challenges with a wide variety of strategies -- from compliance to lawsuits.

The focus was on the strategic calculations driving decisions by individual lawyers and law firms, regardless of the strategy they took. The report concludes that fear significantly magnifies perceptions of risk, collective action is critical in responding to pressure, and business leaders have a crucial stake in upholding rule of law, for its own sake and as a cornerstone of the free market system.

ArticleCenter for Political Accountability

The New Rules of Political Spending Oversight

David Pahlic, Bruce Freed & Karl Sandstrom, 2026

What It Is: A June 2026 Directors & Boards article documenting how corporate political spending oversight has shifted from a government-relations function to a board-level governance priority, citing the CPA-Zicklin Index's tracking of disclosure practices at major public companies.

Why It Matters: Companies rated "trendsetters" for political spending disclosure and board oversight grew from 28 to 112 over the past decade — a 400% increase — reflecting a shift toward Accountability and Transparency achieved through "private ordering" (companies self-regulating) rather than government mandate.

How to Use It: Use this to benchmark your company's political spending policy against the CPA-Zicklin Framework, and to make the case to your board that comprehensive disclosure is now mainstream practice, not an outlier position.

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

Karthik Ramanna, 2025

This article argues anthropogenic emissions are driven by customer preferences and that such preferences can shift with improved information, Karthik Ramanna advocates for a new approach: an economy-wide system of reliable and comparable accounts of the embedded emissions in products to allow customers (and investors) to make better-informed decisions aligned with underlying preferences.

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