Business bribery [Democracy and the nation state]

[Chris Burford]

At 19/11/01 09:27 +0800, you wrote:
>Chris it only occurred to me recently how simple (simple to change, 
>perhaps not so simple to practically control)  it would be to stop 
>companies corrupting political life.
>
>Everytime it comes up, usually in the form of contributions, it is 
>discussed in terms of having registers and all sorts of complex mechanisms 
>which we know will not work. Yet the solution is simple enough - change 
>the public companies act, specify in the director's duties, the duty to 
>ensure that company funds arn't used for political purposes and then 
>simply arrest the offenders (that is shift the focus from the parties and 
>politicians onto the companies themselves).
>
>I mention this not as some magical cure but to draw attention to the weak 
>aspects of corporate governance, and those areas where democracy can make 
>effective rule without begining with a massive disturbance.

Quite a bit of experience has been built up of activists attending 
companies annual general meetings and raising arkward questions about the 
environment, racism, etc. This started I think with the global campaigns 
against apartheid.

To channel that activity towards the reform you suggest is so simple, we 
would need these activists to link their activity to national campaigns 
calling for legislation against company donations to business. A sort of 
capitalist Charter 88 (the UK consitutional reform movement)

It might be linked to a requirement that at all company AGM's there should 
be a section for social and environmental audit.

Any prospects or is this just one of those simple ideas if only people 
would see it our way?

Regards

Chris