Quiet Politics and Business Power
Corporate Control in Europe and Japan
Why do corporations often get what they want from government? This book argues that business power is greatest when politics is quiet—when issues stay off the public radar and decisions happen in technical committees where lobbyists have the advantage.
Drawing on case studies from France, Germany, Japan, and the Netherlands, the book shows how corporate governance reforms unfold differently depending on whether they attract public attention. When citizens are watching, democracy can push back against business preferences. When they're not, business usually wins.
Winner of the 2012 Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research, awarded by the European Consortium for Political Research and the University of Bergen.
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