Law Commons^™

The Corporation As A Tocquevillian Association, Ronald J. Colombo

Ronald J Colombo

The Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. FEC re-energized the debate over the proper role of corporations in the political process. Some have welcomed the decision as an application of the Constitution’s limits upon governmental regulation of political speech. Others have bemoaned the decision for equating corporate spending with free speech, thereby depriving government of the power to effectively safeguard the electoral process. Both sides of the debate, however, appear fixated upon a “one-size-fits-all” answer to the question of corporate political involvement. This is both unfortunate and inaccurate, for it undermines the construction of a positive path forward …

Towards A Nexus Of Virtue, Ronald J. Colombo

Ronald J Colombo

Corporate law, like all law, should be directed toward the common good. The common good requires that corporate activity be restrained, if not actively directed, by human virtue. An analysis of the corporate enterprise suggests that those corporate actors with the greatest stake in the exercise of virtue, and best positioned to influence corporate activity via the exercise of virtuous judgment, are the corporation’s officers. Thus, one of the primary objectives of corporate law should be the promotion of virtue among corporate officers.

Contrary to what some might assume, the promotion of virtue among corporate officers need not entail a …