An Introduction to Corporate Campaigns

In recent years, many activists have concluded that public processes, such as new legislation, regulatory enforcement, or lawsuits, respond too slowly and can be blocked too easily by special interests. In response they have turned to private politics instead. Private politics refers to actions by private interests, such as activists and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), that target private agents, typically firms. This chapter describes two key elements of private politics: corporate campaigns and private regulation. It discusses the logic of corporate campaigns, how firms endeavor to respond to them, and empirical evidence on the consequences of campaigns. It then turns to private regulation, and its close counterpart, corporate social responsibility. The chapter raises a puzzle about corporate social responsibility that the models in later chapters will help resolve. The chapter concludes by providing an overview of the remainder of the book.