Divided We Fall — How Business Can Depolarize the U.S.
In May, Business for America and the Niskanen Center kicked off a four-part webinar series focused on how the nation’s social and political polarization impacts our businesses, employees, and communities. “Divided We Fall: How Business Can Depolarize the U.S.” features scholars, business leaders, and civic leaders offering insights into how polarization jeopardizes our nation’s democracy and its people — and how business can shift and positively impact the current dynamic.
Session 2, on June 3 at 12 PM EDT, will focus on “Corporate Civic Responsibility: Why leading businesses want to change our civic culture.” Register for session 2 on Eventbrite »
“Understanding Polarization: An existential threat to business and democracy” was hosted by BFA CEO Sarah Bonk and Geoff Kabaservice, vice president of political studies at the Niskanen Center. Panelists in the discussion included Didi Kuo, senior research scholar at Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law and fellow at the Niskanen Center; Sarah Longwell, CEO of Longwell Partners; and Mark Mizruchi, professor of management and organizations at University of Michigan Ross School of Business. Watch the webinar on YouTube »
Here are a few interesting observations from the session:
“When talking about polarization, what has happened, in a nut-shell, is that our various identities, not just as Republicans or Democrats, or Independents, but all the ways in which we see ourselves and see the world have become stacked and super-charged behind our political identities.”
— Geoff Kabaservice
“A major reason for the success of American democracy in the period after World War II was the important role played by the largest American corporations. It’s true most businesses at the time — as they are now — were politically conservative, but the leading corporations of the era exhibited a moderate and pragmatic approach to politics.”
— Mark Mizruchi
“There is an opportunity here for business to make an impact, but it will require two things. The first is a willingness to rethink how business engages as a political actor; and the second is a collective understanding of why democracy is good for business in order to structure the civic activity of business.”
— Didi Kuo
“Part of which is going on with polarization has been the collapse of institutions that unite us. Trust in military is down. Trust in churches is down. Trust in the media is basically non-existent, trust in universities (is down). Everything now has taken on a polarized sheen where people think different institutions are now part of a political tribe. Businesses are one of the few remaining institutions that in some way have the potential to transcend those partisan elements.”
— Sarah Longwell
