The Foundations of Corporate Strategies; Comment on “‘Part of the Solution’: Food Corporation Strategies for Regulatory Capture and Legitimacy”

Document Type : Commentary

Author

Global Health Program, College of Public Health and Human Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA

Abstract

The “Part of the Solution” article describes how the food industry has evolved its strategies to respond to critics and government regulation by co-option and appeasement to create a less hostile environment. Rather than focusing research on single industries it would be more efficient and productive to focus on corporate political activities (CPAs) that directly influence democratic institutions and processes having authority over laws, policy, rules and regulations that govern industry. The most influential and direct CPA are election campaign donations, lobbying, and the reverse revolving door (RRD). In the United States those CPA flow from rights of corporations that underlie all industry strategies. The US history of how corporations obtained their rights is described, and research about the affirmative effects of those three CPA is summarized. Health research is needed about those CPA and their effects on health law, policy and regulation in the United States and other nations.

Keywords


  1. Lacy-Nichols J, Williams O. "Part of the Solution": Food Corporation Strategies for Regulatory Capture and Legitimacy. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2021;10(12):845-856. doi:34172/ijhpm.2021.111
  2. Winkler A. We the Corporations: How American Businesses Won Their Civil Rights. New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation; 2018.
  3. Maier P. The revolutionary origins of the American corporation. William Mary Q. 1993;50(1):51-84. doi:2307/2947236
  4. Carey A. Taking the Risk Out of Democracy: Corporate Propaganda versus Freedom and Liberty. Urbana: University of Illinois Press; 1997.
  5. Powell LF Jr. Powell Memorandum: Attack on American Free Enterprise System. 1. August 1971. https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/powellmemo/1. Accessed January 13, 2022.
  6. Prins N. All the Presidents' Bankers: The Hidden Alliances that Drive American Power. New York: Nation Books; 2014.
  7. Mizruchi MS, Marshall LJ. Corporate CEOs, 1890-2015: titans, bureaucrats, and saviors. Annu Rev Sociol. 2016;42(1):143-163. doi:1146/annurev-soc-081715-074233
  8. Powell JA, Watt C. Corporate prerogative, race, and identity under the fourteenth amendment. Cardozo Law Rev. 2010;32:885-904.
  9. Zakaras A. Expensive speech, illegitimate power: corporations and free expression. Polity. 2013;45(4):525-553. doi:1057/pol.2013.17
  10. Nichols J, McChesney RW. Dollarocracy: How the Money and Media Election Complex is Destroying America. New York: Nation Books; 2013.
  11. Page BI, Gilens M. Democracy in America? What Has Gone Wrong and What We Can do About it. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 2020.
  12. Nyberg D. Corporations, Politics, and Democracy: Corporate political activities as political corruption. Organ Theory. 2021;2(1):2631787720982618. doi:1177/2631787720982618
  13. Hall RL, Deardorff AV. Lobbying as legislative subsidy. Am Polit Sci Rev. 2006;100(1):69-84. doi:1017/s0003055406062010
  14. Gilens M, Page BI. Testing theories of American politics: elites, interest groups, and average citizens. Perspect Politics. 2014;12(3):564-581. doi:1017/s1537592714001595
  15. Wike R, Silver L, Schumacher S, Connaughton A. Many in U.S., Western Europe Say Their Political System Needs Major Refore: Americans Are Especially Likely to Say Politicians Are Corrupt. Pew Research Center; 2021. https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2021/03/31/many-in-us-western-europe-say-their-political-system-needs-major-reform/. Accessed January 18, 2021.
  16. Alzola M. Corporate dystopia: the ethics of corporate political spending. Bus Soc. 2013;52(3):388-426. doi:1177/0007650312474952
  17. Jaichuen N, Phulkerd S, Certthkrikul N, Sacks G, Tangcharoensathien V. Corporate political activity of major food companies in Thailand: an assessment and policy recommendations. Global Health. 2018;14(1):115. doi:1186/s12992-018-0432-z
  18. Ng S, Kelly B, Yeatman H, Swinburn B, Karupaiah T. Policy inertia on regulating food marketing to children: a case study of Malaysia. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(18):9607. doi:3390/ijerph18189607
  19. Maranha Paes de Carvalho C, Johns P, Albiero M, et al. "Private and personal": corporate political activity, informal governance, and the undermining of marketing regulation in Brazil. Glob Public Health. 2021:1-11. doi:1080/17441692.2021.1988128
  20. Baker P, Zambrano P, Mathisen R, et al. Breastfeeding, first-food systems and corporate power: a case study on the market and political practices of the transnational baby food industry and public health resistance in the Philippines. Global Health. 2021;17(1):125. doi:1186/s12992-021-00774-5
  21. Moodie R, Bennett E, Kwong EJL, et al. Ultra-processed profits: the political economy of countering the global spread of ultra-processed foods - a synthesis review on the market and political practices of transnational food corporations and strategic public health responses. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2021;10(12):968-982. doi:34172/ijhpm.2021.45
  22. Drutman L. The Business of America is Lobbying: How Corporations Became Politicized and Politics Became More Corporate. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2015.
  23. Walker ET, Rea CM. The political mobilization of firms and industries. Annu Rev Sociol. 2014;40(1):281-304. doi:1146/annurev-soc-071913-043215
  24. McKay AM. Buying amendments? Lobbyists' campaign contributions and microlegislation in the creation of the affordable care act. Legis Stud Q. 2020;45(2):327-360. doi:1111/lsq.12266
  25. Bertrand M, Bombardini M, Fisman R, Trebbi F. Tax-exempt lobbying: corporate philanthropy as a tool for political influence. Am Econ Rev. 2020;110(7):2065-2102. doi:1257/aer.20180615
  26. Gilens M. Descriptive representation, money, and political inequality in the United States. Swiss Political Sci Rev. 2015;21(2):222-228. doi:1111/spsr.12164
  27. Witko C. Party government and variation in corporate influence on agency decision making: OSHA regulation, 1981-2006. Soc Sci Q. 2013;94(4):894-911. doi:1111/ssqu.12016
  28. Fellowes MC, Wolf PJ. Funding mechanisms and policy instruments: how business campaign contributions influence Congressional votes. Polit Res Q. 2004;57(2):315-324. doi:1177/106591290405700212
  29. Ard K, Garcia N, Kelly P. Another avenue of action: an examination of climate change countermovement industries’ use of PAC donations and their relationship to Congressional voting over time. Env Polit. 2017;26(6):1107-1131. doi:1080/09644016.2017.1366291
  30. Roscoe DD, Jenkins S. A meta-analysis of campaign contributions' impact on roll call voting. Soc Sci Q. 2005;86(1):52-68.
  31. Powell LW. The influence of campaign contributions on the legislative process. Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy. 2014;9(1):75-101. doi:3998/mpub.2454352
  32. Akram S. Representative bureaucracy and unconscious bias: exploring the unconscious dimension of active representation. Public Adm. 2018;96(1):119-133. doi:1111/padm.12376
  33. Jung Y, Hall J, Hong R, Goh T, Ong N, Tan N. Payback: effects of relationship and cultural norms on reciprocity. Asian J Soc Psychol. 2014;17(3):160-172. doi:1111/ajsp.12057
  34. Tyllström A. More than a revolving door: corporate lobbying and the socialization of institutional carriers. Organ Stud. 2021;42(4):595-614. doi:1177/0170840619848014
  35. Louçã F, Ash M, Francisco L, Michael A. The revolving door. In: Shadow Networks: Financial Disorder and the System That Caused Crisis. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2018:208-244.
  36. Goldman E, Rocholl J, So J. Politically connected boards of directors and the allocation of procurement contracts. Rev Financ. 2013;17(5):1617-1648. doi:1093/rof/rfs039
  37. Tabakovic H, Wollmann TG. From Revolving Doors to Regulatory Capture? Evidence from Patent Examiners. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research; 2018:w24638. doi:3386/w24638
  38. Wirsching EM. The Revolving Door for Political Elites: An Empirical Analysis of the Linkages between Government Officials’ Professional Background and Financial Regulation. In: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; 2018:19. https://www.oecd.org/corruption/integrity-forum/academic-papers/Wirsching.pdf. Accessed June 3, 2020.
  39. Cingano F, Pinotti P. Politicians at work: the private returns and social costs of political connections. J Eur Econ Assoc. 2013;11(2):433-465. doi:1111/jeea.12001
  40. Shotts KW, Wiseman AE. The politics of investigations and regulatory enforcement by independent agents and cabinet appointees. J Polit. 2010;72(1):209-226. doi:1017/s0022381609990570
  41. Infante PF. The continuing struggle between career civil servants and political appointees in the development of government public health standards. Int J Occup Environ Health. 2016;22(4):269-273. doi:1080/10773525.2016.1245487
  42. Piller C. Hidden conflicts? Science. 2018;361(6397):16-20. doi:1126/science.361.6397.16
  43. Wiist WH. Studying the influence of corporations on democratic processes. In: Researching Corporations and Global Health Governance: An Interdisciplinary Guide. London: Rowman & Littlefield International Ltd; 2017:173-187.
  44. Barnish M, Tørnes M, Nelson-Horne B. How much evidence is there that political factors are related to population health outcomes? An internationally comparative systematic review. BMJ Open. 2018;8(10):e020886. doi:1136/bmjopen-2017-020886
  45. Thiel M, Bauer E, Runcan IP. Revolving Doors in the EU and US. European Parliamentary Research Service; 2018:7.
  46. Coen D, Vannoni M. Sliding doors in Brussels: a career path analysis of EU affairs managers. Eur J Polit Res. 2016;55(4):811-826. doi:1111/1475-6765.12151
  47. Rajwani T, Liedong TA. Political activity and firm performance within nonmarket research: a review and international comparative assessment. J World Bus. 2015;50(2):273-283. doi:1016/j.jwb.2014.10.004
  48. Holman C, Luneburg W. Lobbying and transparency: a comparative analysis of regulatory reform. Interest Groups Advocacy. 2012;1(1):75-104. doi:1057/iga.2012.4
  49. Bombardini M, Trebbi F. Empirical models of lobbying. Annu Rev Econom. 2020;12:391-413. doi:1146/annurev-economics-082019-024350
  50. Galea S, Saitz R. Funding, institutional conflicts of interest, and schools of public health: realities and solutions. JAMA. 2017;317(17):1735-1736. doi:1001/jama.2017.1659
  51. Office of Compliance, Risk Management and Ethics. Code of Conduct for Responsible Research. World Health Organization; 2017:26. https://www.who.int/about/ethics/code-of-conduct-for-responsible-research. Accessed March 20, 2022.
  52. Cerrillo-i-Martínez A. Beyond revolving doors: the prevention of conflicts of interests through regulation. Public Integr. 2017;19(4):357-373. doi:1080/10999922.2016.1225479
  53. Krishnan C. Tackling Corruption in Political Party Financing: Lessons from Global Regulatory Practices. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics; 2014. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2433257. Accessed January 26, 2022.
Volume 11, Issue 11
November 2022
Pages 2732-2735
  • Receive Date: 11 February 2022
  • Revise Date: 24 March 2022
  • Accept Date: 28 March 2022
  • First Publish Date: 29 March 2022