Business power in contemporary democracies

Pepper D. Culpepper

Chapter 9 in Handbook of Comparative Political Economy, 2025, pp 167-181 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The transformations of business require an urgent refocus of analytical attention in comparative political economy. Organized business is waning as a force in politics. Large corporations as individual actors are now central to politics everywhere. Three concepts especially illuminate this development: structural power, instrumental power, and state and regulatory capture. This chapter reviews developments in these concepts and considers their application to the rise of mega-corporations. It then considers challenges to business in the new era: the rise of cultural and identity issues in party competition; increasing distrust of the concentration of corporate power among regulators, and correspondingly greater attention to the question of antitrust; and a public opinion that is turning against some of the largest companies. A future research agenda should include how large corporations deal with both capitalist organization and social disorganization; the rise of populism in the streets and in political parties; and the ownership and rules over media and social media. The chapter calls for more research on regulation, which are the market rules that will play a paramount role in the struggles over sovereignty between governments and big corporations.

Keywords: Business; Democracy; Finance; Media; Regulation; Technology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035327775
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