Calling on Corporate Law to Defend Democracy
Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, of the Brennan Center for Justice, argues that corporate law needs to be changed to empower and protect shareholders in the wake of the Citizens United v. FEC Supreme Court decision. "Congress is not the only institution at risk. Corporations themselves may be corrupted by political spending."She also notes that corporate governance alone is not a total remedy."Congress needs to embrace the Fair Elections Now Act, which would empower small donors by matching their contributions to candidates with public dollars. Adopting the Fair Elections model would be the ultimate response to the escalation of privately funded or even corporate-funded elections. And just like more muscular disclosure rules and improvements to corporate governance, the Fair Elections approach is perfectly constitutional."Click here to read the full article in the Boston Review.