Business-Managed Democracy

“Business-managed democracies are those in which the political and cultural arrangements are managed in the interests of business.”
Sharon Beder, 2009.

 

 
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For more on this subject see
Suiting Themselves:
How Corporations Drive the Global Agenda, Earthscan, London, 2006.
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and Free Market Missionaries: The Corporate Manipulation of Community Values, Earthscan, London, 2006.
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pointer Business-Managed Democracy » Introduction » Inner Circle

The Inner Circle

reference
Reference: Michael Useem, The Inner Circle: Large Corporations and the Rise of Business Political Activity in the U.S. And U.K., Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1984, pp. 6, 36.

In his book The Inner Circle, written in the 1980s, Michael Useem claimed that whilst ‘a sense of class affinity based on company stewardship can hardly be said to be new, the strength of the bond has increased and a select circle of those in corporate power are now far more willing to work towards goals that serve all large companies.’ His study of the US and UK found that even at that time large corporations were becoming more and more interrelated through shared directors and common institutional investors.

The inner circle provide the leadership for the corporate class: organizing and running the business coalitions where common goals and strategies are worked out; coordinating the public relations specialists, think tanks and media outlets that manipulate public opinion; setting the agendas for policy groups; guiding their policy recommendations onto government agendas; filling positions in successive government administrations and as government advisors; and thereby ensuring conducive public policy outcomes. In this way government is intimately connected with the corporate power elite, or inner circle and this is increasing the case around the world.

reference
Reference: Michael Useem, The Inner Circle: Large Corporations and the Rise of Business Political Activity in the U.S. And U.K., Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1984, pp61-2, 108

The inner circle are powerful within the corporate community because of their top level management positions within large corporations, their board membership of other large corporations, and their leadership positions in business associations. Because of these multiple positions they are able to network with others in similar positions and mobilize resources and express support for political goals shared by others in the circle. Their views tend to ‘reflect the broader thinking of the business community’ rather than the concerns of an individual company.

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See also: Interlocking Boards | Social Networking | Bilderberg Conferences | Bohemian Grove | Career Connections | McKinsey & Co. | Elite Education

© 2012 Sharon Beder
http://www.herinst.org/BusinessManagedDemocracy/introduction/inner.html