For decades, the business community has been viewed as a core constituency of the Republican Party. However, several factors, such as corporate prioritization of social values, changes in trade policy, and anti-business sentiment among Republican rank-and-file, suggest a coalitional shift is underway. Scholars have debated whether this shift is an illusion or is real. At the core of this debate is how businesses navigate two forms of organizational conflict:

  1. Stakeholder cross-pressure
  2. Policy cross-pressure

To measure cross-pressure, we conduct an original survey of elite business leaders. Our evidence suggests a widespread view that companies are increasingly aligned with the Democrats, including in alignment on core policy priorities. When companies are cross-pressured, leaders perceive the company as leaning toward the Democrats. The potential decoupling of business from the Republican coalition represents one of the most significant changes in American politics in decades.

About the authors

Eitan Hersh

Professor of Political Science, Tufts University

Sarang Shah

Ph.D. Student, Political Science

Sarang Shah is a lawyer and a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at UC Berkeley. His dissertation is on the political economy of housing in California and how to build the state and local politics to support an abundance agenda. His research interests are in housing, business in politics, political economy, democracy and election law, social science methods, and corporate law and governance.