American business leaders should not duck away from getting involved in politics ahead of the 2024 election, argue Ronnie Chatterji and Dan Schwerin in their recent article for the business magazine Fast Company. They describe a marked downtick in CEO activism attributable to the backlash faced by companies such as Anheuser-Busch and Disney who have been surrounded by political controversy.
With American institutions threatened by anti-democratic populism, the authors argue that CEOs should in their own interest be prepared to stand up publicly for democracy:
“A strong and vibrant democracy is ultimately good for business. Chaos and disruption are not. That means that protecting voting rights, civil rights, and the peaceful transfer of power is both the right thing to do and smart strategy.”
The article makes two specific recommendations for how companies can equip themselves to successfully engage in the protection of democracy: first, plan ahead and determine how the individual departments from HR to public affairs will need to work together in the event of a political crises; second, be proactive and get involved in supporting democracy early on by participating in voter registration drives or encourage employees to participate in the elections.
