BUSINESS IN POLITICS
In recent years questions about the proper role of business in politics have been widely discussed, and many reasons both for and against corporate involvement in politics have been advanced. For example, in justifying corporate political involvement, Edwin M. Epstein comments: “Corporate political involvement enhances the quality of pluralism and provides an additional safeguard against the authoritarian potential of a mass society.
Business has, to one degree or another, been involved in political activities since the founding of America, and there is every reason to believe that it will continue.
Business has, to one degree or another, been involved in political activities since the founding of America, and there is every reason to believe that it will continue.
Need for Business involvement
Most businessmen, at least those who direct large business units, feel that there is an increasing need for business involvement and that business can and should influence government wherever appropriate. David J. Galligan, in his post as director of Citizenship Responsibility Program of the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce, summarizes the feeling for increased involvement as follows. “What is happening in today’s business-government relationship is not something new in our political process but rather an accelerated and genuine interest on the part of business concerning developments that portend great changes in our free enterprise system.
Many government leaders share the belief that business ought to participate in the political process to the fullest extent possible for the social benefit of all concerned. While addressing a group of businessmen, one government leader said: “As a member of government, I would urge corporate participation, through business connection, partnerships, institutions of assorted kinds, and as individuals. Politics needs you desperately, and there is no better place for business to participate in government than at the local level.
The question most businessmen are grappling with is not whether business should be in politics, but rather how and to what extent it should be involved. Most responsible businessmen view political involvement as part of corporate citizenship: i.e., because business is one of the major social institutions. It has an obligation to become involved in the political process which directs and controls forces for social well-being. Others view political involvement as a necessary balance the power of other social institutions. For example, some feel that since labor is in politics as labor, business should also be in politics as business to balance the equation. Otherwise, labor’s political power may become dominant, thereby destroying pluralism. All these views are valid. The important point is that business is a major social institution and its view points are needed on major issues where it is qualified, just as its efforts are needed on social problems where it is qualified.
Many government leaders share the belief that business ought to participate in the political process to the fullest extent possible for the social benefit of all concerned. While addressing a group of businessmen, one government leader said: “As a member of government, I would urge corporate participation, through business connection, partnerships, institutions of assorted kinds, and as individuals. Politics needs you desperately, and there is no better place for business to participate in government than at the local level.
The question most businessmen are grappling with is not whether business should be in politics, but rather how and to what extent it should be involved. Most responsible businessmen view political involvement as part of corporate citizenship: i.e., because business is one of the major social institutions. It has an obligation to become involved in the political process which directs and controls forces for social well-being. Others view political involvement as a necessary balance the power of other social institutions. For example, some feel that since labor is in politics as labor, business should also be in politics as business to balance the equation. Otherwise, labor’s political power may become dominant, thereby destroying pluralism. All these views are valid. The important point is that business is a major social institution and its view points are needed on major issues where it is qualified, just as its efforts are needed on social problems where it is qualified.
