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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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American Politics

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Theses/Dissertations

2016

Lobbying

Articles 1 - 1 of 1

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Social Corporation: Firms, Networks, And Politics, Michael Kowal Jul 2016

The Social Corporation: Firms, Networks, And Politics, Michael Kowal

Doctoral Dissertations

Scholars have long looked at business as a source of political power, but have come to differing conclusions about how corporations behave in pursuit of interests. Building on organizational theory and conditional choice literature, I hypothesize that corporations react to the actions of those around them, leading to cooperation and coordination. While others point to the importance of social ties created through corporate board memberships, I locate an additional social tie that takes place through trade association memberships. In addition, I demonstrate that rather than fragmenting in recent years, business has in fact become more cohesive in their giving patterns. …