Leadership Now CEO and co-founder Daniella Ballou-Aares recently joined the Politics in Question podcast for an intriguing conversation with Lee Drutman and James Wallner on the state of US democracy and how businesses can and should be involved.
Highlights:
The role of business in politics and in society is one that Americans have mixed feelings about. Recent data (e.g., Edelman Trust Barometer) show business is the most trusted institutions in society, but Americans also have mistrust of how business plays in politics, uses its influence, etc.
The question now is, how can business play a positive role at this moment when democracy is facing such a critical moment?
Generally, business views politics through a government affairs lens, used to minimize task and regulatory risk.
There is a concern among the business community about political retribution for taking stands on social and policy issues that don’t align with their elected representatives,
Two elements to businesses successfully taking a stand on democracy:
Pre-defining what the factors are where businesses are willing to step out on an issue because political leaders are crossing well-defined lines of what is appropriate in a democracy. These triggers could be: refusal to accept legitimate election results; responding to political violence; political retribution for free speech, etc.
Stepping out in a coalition, which is usually done at the state level, but in some cases can be done nationally (for example, the business coalition re: legitimacy of the 2020 election).
Businesspeople and companies can play a meaningful role in protecting the democratic system and responding to systemic risk, as well as innovation in the system.
Click here for the full podcast.