Time to Change Corporations: Closing the Citizenship Gap

Time to Change Corporations: Closing the Citizenship GapBy Robert C. Hinkley When good citizens realize they are harming the public interest, they stop. They don't wait for a new law to make them stop. They don't lobby to keep the law from making them stop. They simply stop. When citizenship is lacking, the behavior causing the harm continues until a law can be passed to make it stop. Sometimes this can take a very long time. Modern corporations tend not to be very good citizens. Rather than stop, they continue operating in the Citizenship Gap, harming the environment and other elements of the public interest. Time to Change Corporations reveals how existing law encourages companies to continue. The author, a corporate lawyer for more than 30 years, describes how this problem arose and suggests the solution lies in reversing a change to the corporate law made more than 100 years ago. This reversal will require directors to once again ensure their company's pursuit of self-interest no longer comes at the expense of the environment, human rights, the public health and safety, the dignity of employees and the welfare of the communities in which the corporation operates.