What are Proper Political Activities for Business?
Businessmen need to become more concerned with governmental processes. Because of the growing complexity of government-business relationships, businessmen can ill afford to stand silent. Just as business needs the support of government to do its job, so also government needs participation by businessmen in formulating public policy. It needs advice and information from business leaders in making policy decisions, and this is true at local and state levels as well as the federal level. But yet the nagging question remains: For the business firm, what kinds of political actions are proper?
When discussing what is or is not proper political action for business it is important to distinguish between activities a person may perform as an individual or private citizen and those he might perform as a representative or agent of his company. A good rule of thumb is that business, as business, should support issues-not candidates. For example, no one would argue with the property of a company president endorsing a candidate for political office so long as it is clear that he is acting as an acting as an individual. Individuals can should endorse any candidate they choose, but when a company president or any company office uses his title or his company name in publicly endorsing a candidate in a paid political advertisement, this is a questionable use of company position and borders on violation of the Corrupt Practices Act, which will be discussed in the next section. It may give some persons the impression that the company-not the individual-has endorsed the candidate. While there is nothing illegal about such action, it appears inconsistent with the philosophy of corrupt practices legislation. The same reasoning applies also to union officers because the Corrupt Practices Act applies equally to them.
On the other hand, a variety of issues continually arise which affect business in diverse ways. As a good citizen in the community, business should make its viewpoints known and should support or oppose issues which it believes will be beneficial or detrimental to the community and to the business itself. Questions of business involvement in the political arena generally fall into three broad categories: financial support, providing information, and direct involvement of company personnel in the personnel in the political process.
When discussing what is or is not proper political action for business it is important to distinguish between activities a person may perform as an individual or private citizen and those he might perform as a representative or agent of his company. A good rule of thumb is that business, as business, should support issues-not candidates. For example, no one would argue with the property of a company president endorsing a candidate for political office so long as it is clear that he is acting as an acting as an individual. Individuals can should endorse any candidate they choose, but when a company president or any company office uses his title or his company name in publicly endorsing a candidate in a paid political advertisement, this is a questionable use of company position and borders on violation of the Corrupt Practices Act, which will be discussed in the next section. It may give some persons the impression that the company-not the individual-has endorsed the candidate. While there is nothing illegal about such action, it appears inconsistent with the philosophy of corrupt practices legislation. The same reasoning applies also to union officers because the Corrupt Practices Act applies equally to them.
On the other hand, a variety of issues continually arise which affect business in diverse ways. As a good citizen in the community, business should make its viewpoints known and should support or oppose issues which it believes will be beneficial or detrimental to the community and to the business itself. Questions of business involvement in the political arena generally fall into three broad categories: financial support, providing information, and direct involvement of company personnel in the personnel in the political process.
