ReportAtlantic Council

2026 Freedom and Prosperity Indexes

Ignacio Campomanes, Nina Dannaoui-Johnson, Tomás Gómez Revelo, Annie (Yu-Lin) Lee, James Mazzarella, 2026

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/report/2026-freedom-and-prosperity-indexes-the-legal-foundations-that-enable-prosperity-are-rapidly-eroding/

What It Is: The Atlantic Council's annual index ranking 171 countries on political freedom, economic freedom, and rule of law (the Freedom Index) alongside income, health, education, environment, and inclusion (the Prosperity Index), using thirty years of data from 1995 to 2025.

Why It Matters: This year's headline finding is that the rule of law itself is now eroding, not just political freedom — the global Legal Subindex has declined by over a point since 2020, with the US declining from 81.2 to 69.8 since 2014. . Notably, the data shows that rule of law correlates most sharply with prosperity. Having this concrete data can help companies weigh systemic interests more accurately in their public affairs priorities.

How to Use It: Use the interactive country-profiles rankings to view the US-specific trend line alongside markets where your company operates. against thirty years of rule-of-law, political freedom, and economic freedom data — useful for enterprise risk assessments, issue prioritization, board-level briefings on geopolitical exposure, and crisis readiness.

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ReportTransparency International's Global Corruption Report

Corrupting the Rules of the Game: From Legitimate Lobbying to Capturing Regulations and Policies

Dieter Zinnbauer, 2009

What It Is: An early analysis in Transparency International's 2009 Global Corruption Report, examining the line between legitimate corporate lobbying — an accepted input to democratic decision-making — and lobbying that captures regulations and policy for private benefit.

Why It Matters: The report backs its argument with striking figures: politically connected firms are estimated to account for nearly 40% of market capitalization in the UK and 80% in Russia; roughly 2,500 lobbying organizations and 15,000 lobbyists compete for influence in Brussels alone; and US state-level lobbying spending averages $200,000 per legislator, with five lobbyists vying for each lawmaker's attention. Outlines the importance of considering Legitimacy of lobbying efforts, and Responsibility not to crowd out other voices."

How to Use It: Use this chapter's distinction between legitimate lobbying and policy capture as a discussion input when running a Public Affairs Governance Review with Third Side Strategies' Principled Influence Guide — particularly Step Two's policy assessment — to help sharpen the language in your Public Affairs Engagement Policy defining where advocacy ends and undue influence begins.

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ArticleSSIR

Lobbying for Good

Peterson/Pftizer, 2009

Outlines a framework to help companies determine how to engage with social issues and an appropriate level of engagement—ranging from supporter to champion—describing the key to an effective engagement plan that integrates functional silos, all bolstered by compelling case studies.

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ReportUN Environmental Programme

A legal framework for the integration of environmental, social and governance issues into institutional investment

Freshfields, 2005

This seminal report from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, addresses the question of whether institutional investors such as pension funds and insurance companies are legally permitted to integrate environmental, social and governance issues into their investment decision-making and ownership practices. The study describes the legal framework for institutions in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the UK and the US.

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ReportAccountAbility, UN Global Compact

Towards Responsible Lobbying

Simon Zadek, 2005

This guide provides a framework for companies and NGO's to use to determine whether their lobbying practices are responsible.

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BookBerrett Koehler

Walking the Talk

Charles Holliday, Jr., Stephan Schmidheiny, Philip Watts, 2002

The book opens by establishing the minimum expectation that businesses support the right rules of the game—those rewarding long-term value creation rather than destruction—and shows how companies can live their values through cross-sector collaboration, eco-efficiency, and strategies advancing prosperity, planet, and people, supported by real-world cases.

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BookHarvard University Press

The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups

Mancur Olson, Jr., 1971

Mancur Olson’s classic work explains why individuals often fail to organize effectively around shared interests, even when collective action would benefit all. His “free rider” problem and distinction between small and large groups reshape understanding of labor unions, corporations, and political coalitions. Olson’s framework underlies modern theories of governance, lobbying, and institutional design—key foundations for Corporate Political Responsibility.

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WebsiteBraver Angels

Depolarization Dojo (Beta)

Braver Angels

The Depolarization Dojo is an interactive training platform designed to help individuals practice skills for reducing political polarization and engaging constructively across disagreement. Through simulations, exercises, and dialogue-based learning, it teaches users how to de-escalate conflict, challenge assumptions, and strengthen civic trust in increasingly polarized social and organizational environments.

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ArticleMIT Sloan

Finding the Middle Ground in a Politically Polarized World

Craig Smith and Daniel Korschun

Presents a framework for when companies should present forceful or tempered political positions based on their publicly stated values and materiality.

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Website

Long-term Stock Exchange Listing Standards

The Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE) listing standards include expectations that companies will take responsibility for long-term decision-making across strategy, governance, executive compensation, stakeholder engagement, and investor relations. These standards are designed to help businesses build sustainable value over time for all stakeholders, rather than focusing on short-term gains, allowing investors to better assess long-term capital investments.

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ReportSaylor Academy

Mastering Public Relations

Saylor Foundation

This textbook section introduces major corporate and agency public-relations subfunctions: issues management, media and community relations, CSR and philanthropy, investor relations, marketing communications, government relations, lobbying, internal communication, crisis management, and more. It shows how communication, advocacy, and stakeholder engagement are structured inside organizations, shaping how they respond to risks, opportunities, and public scrutiny.

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2026 Freedom and Prosperity Indexes

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