为什么企业必须是透明的政治支出

如果大多数美国人认为，公司政治开支淹没了普通公民的声音，你会认为政府的三个分支 - 旨在满足公共利益 - 会考虑这一点，需要立即改善系统性危机。但是，尽管2012年公共公民调查发现，84％这样的感觉，他们的担忧仍未得到解决。

几种策略正在进行中，以解决这个问题，但逆风面对他们所有。基层Move to Amend运动，例如，旨在修订美国宪法澄清，公司没有个人，而不是享有同样的权利人。这可能需要一段时间，因为国会的三分之二，所有州立法机关的四分之三需要支持这项修正案。迄今只有5个国家已通过有关决议，有三个在进步，而209个城市已通过这样的决议，有40多个在这个过程中。

该修正案是对的直接反应美国公民最高法院的裁决, which gave corporations the same rights as individuals and equated political contributions with free speech. The ruling also found public value in the transparency of such contributions as regulated by the legislative branch. Congress introduced such legislation, including the DISCLOSE Act in 2010 and again in 2012, but Republicans in both chambers killed it on arrival, largely citing the Supreme Court's free speech argument.

在行政部门，美国证券交易委员会似乎准备发出2014的规定，要求政治开支披露。尽管支持近40万公众意见后，SEC似乎犹豫不决。谣言四起，政府通过诉讼威胁由商业利益，声称政治支出不应该被管制，因为它没有任何一个公司的底线或股票价值吓倒。

其余的宣传策略与公司进行直接接触。在2013年，股东提起了近130分辨率下的企业要求对活动和游说团体，如行业协会政治开支的披露。在所有企业的努力来影响政治格局的披露投资者的利益，2013年，2010年显著增长连续第四年为128条的提案，超过一倍的决议，根据可持续投资研究所。这是在2013年提交的决议的第二个最高级别，继147环境与可持续发展提交的决议。竞彩足球app怎么下载显著，大约有三分之一的所有环境和社会的建议提起有关治理和捐助报告，以游说团体和政治运动。虽然得票最多只获得25％的支持，还有在CF工业公司（66％）和艾利安特技术系统公司（64％）的多数选票，以40％的选票以上的等8家企业，其中包括马拉松石油公司，麦克森公司，瓦莱罗能源和皮博迪能源。

该Public Citizen poll found that 77 percent of Americans support requiring companies to publicly disclose contributions to groups that use money to influence campaigns and regulators, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Bolstering the results, 60 lobbying transparency proposals were filed at corporate annual meetings last year. Half of the 18 shareholder proposals earning more than 40 percent support related to lobbying transparency, while 28 proposals were withdrawn after management agreed to disclose the information.

该central element of this issue is acknowledging the significance of the business risk of such contributions, as we learned when Target got into hot water for its 2010 political contributions to a Minnesota gubernatorial candidate who opposed same-sex marriage. There are well-understood internal business risks that a company can control, such as labor practices, supply chain management and energy use, but clearly many unexpected issues can affect profitability and share value, such as customer purchasing patterns, geopolitical circumstances, natural disasters, judicial rulings, legislation and competitor innovation.

管理公众的认知更像是一门艺术而不是一个合作伙伴nce. Companies spend millions annually on marketing consultants and public relations firms to test opinions of products, services and ad campaigns. Yet, consumer's perception of a company and their loyalty can change instantly when distasteful practices are revealed, such as poor labor practices or a shoddy environmental record. The public pays more attention to these issues than ever before and want the companies they like and invest in to be responsible. Making money at all costs is an old, tired way of doing business, and while companies spend millions exerting political influence to deregulate industry, governments wouldn't need regulations if businesses operated in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.

When it comes to political spending, the Public Citizen poll found that 81 percent of Americans agree that companies should spend money on political campaigns only if they disclose their spending immediately, while 80 percent said companies should spend money on political campaigns only with prior shareholder approval. There is clearly a desire for shareholders to have a voice in such decisions, primarily because they want to know the justification. Nearly 87% also agree that prompt disclosure of political spending would help voters, customers and shareholders hold companies accountable for political behavior. People want the political stance of a company to be consistent with what's best for society and not merely the financial self-interest of the company. These should be common goals, not competing ones.

该Center for Corporate Political Accountability编制了CPA-Zicklin商指数要突出领导和朝最大的200家美国公司之间的自愿性信息披露做了一般性自愿进展。公司如百特，Capital One公司，默克公司，PG＆E和UPS披露所有类型的政治捐款和一般称赞他们在这一领域的领导地位。其他公司，要么不会透露他们的政策或有不愿透露贡献包括埃森哲，亚马逊，阿帕奇，美国银行，伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司，嘉年华，康卡斯特，Costco公司，福特汽车，IBM，摩根士丹利，普莱克斯，Priceline的，高盛，时代华纳有线电视公司，泰科，沃尔格林，沃尔玛，废物管理和雅虎。

通过由里卡多Reitmeyer美元的钞票图像Shutterstock。