Corporate Social Justice Warriors? The Origins of Corporate Political Activity on Social Issues

In the past decade, corporations have become increasingly involved in the culture war--taking liberal stands on controversial moral policy issues that tap key ethical and often religious values. Most political science literature sees corporations as crudely conservative entities, motivated by their economic interest to maximize firm value. This outdated notion stands in stark contrast to the recent rise in corporate political activity on social issues (or, "corporate activism"). The central research question guiding this dissertation is: Why do firms engage in social activism? In this dissertation, I explore three different origins of corporate activism: managers, rank-and-file employees, and shareholders.

Author

• Maks-Solomon, Cory

Keyword

• Corporate political activity
• American politics
• Moral policy
• Public policy
• Business and politics

Date created

• 2020

Type of Work

• Dissertation

License

• All rights reserved

Rights statement

• In Copyright

GW Unit

• Political Science

Degree

• Ph.D.

Advisor

• Binder, Sarah A.

Committee Member(s)

• Binder, Sarah A.
• Rigby, Elizabeth
• Lawrence, Eric D.

Persistent URL

•  https://scholarspace.library.gwu.edu/etd/gh93h040d