Business Ethics Essay

The Federal Court Case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Committee is a case with a controversial outcome. The Supreme Court came to the decision, through a 5-4 vote, that for-profit corporations have the same rights to finance political campaigns as citizens. The Supreme Court held in Citizens United that it was unconstitutional to ban free speech through the limiting of independent advertisements by corporations, associations, or unions (CU vs. FEC). The Supreme Court Decision allows corporations and unions to use their financial resources to either promote or persuade against any political candidate on an advertisement. The ruling also allows corporations and unions to donate to political campaigns and does away with any limits on how much a corporate donor can contribute to a campaign (ibid). While the businesses may not give money straight to campaigns, they have the choice to persuade the population of voters as a whole through the use of advertisements, just as Political Action Committees do. The corporate funding of political advertisements is made possible by the First Amendment because it guarantees the right to free speech, and political spending is one form of that protected speech.

According to Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which of the following is not a reason to allow corporations the right to spend money and advertise for political candidates?

Politicians run campaigns to gain support from voters and donors so that they can win an election. However, running campaigns require money, which is provided by many corporations to the political parties. In 2010, the Supreme Court made a decision in Citizens United v. FEC where companies can contribute to political parties during elections. The court ruled “that the First Amendment protected the right of corporations and unions to spend money on political speech” (NPR Staff 1).

Corporations and people with more money do not have more of a right to the freedom of speech than those that do not. Allowing corporations and the rich to donate unlimited amounts gives them more power and freedom of speech. Money controlling politics ruins democratic elections. It’s not something our founding fathers intended when writing the constitution. It is something that needs to be addressed and changed in our society. Every day we hear how the working and lower classes have no power or influence in politics. This is one way this can be changed, and true democratic elections

32: List and explain Nash’s, Drucker’s, Buffet’s, Blanchard's and Peale’s comprehensive approach for resolving ethical dilemma

In 2008, the Federal Elections Commission used the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 to barr the lobbying group Citizens United from showing a political movie against Hillary Clinton on cable tv. One of the sections of this bill, number 203, prevented corporations, unions, and nonprofits from broadcasting any information or propaganda with the name of a presidential candidate within 60 days of the general election. The bill was passed for good reason. It prevented corporations, which

Corruption in America’s campaign finance system has been a continuous issue since the birth of the country, but it truly took shape after the Supreme Court ruled on the Citizens United v. FEC court case which allowed corporations to be considered people, and therefore protected under the first amendment right of free expression. This decision meant that business and other protected entities could use their substantial financial prowess to influence the political process (Wiist

The most significant political statement in the history of the United States is the First Amendment of the constitution. The ability to speak freely is a value that is appreciated by most American citizens. In many countries around the world, people are sent to prison, or even executed for expressing opinions not shared by the government. In the United States all government officials, no matter how powerful, must not deny people the right to voice their opinions. Even when those opinions are unfair. Free speech is probably the best known and most revered constitutional rights in the U.S., but it's not always easy to define what exactly is speech. As members of a high technological society we have many methods to express our thought, and beliefs. Especially, since we are part of an innovative society that is constantly evolving.

Other politics argue with this argument that free speech should be one of the most important thing in our life. One politic such a Hilary Clinton quoted "Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech" Clinton is referring to the congress that they

Based on U.S Court Judicial Branch of the U.S. Government, the freedom of speech includes the rights not to speak (West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943), students to wear black armbands to school to protest a war (Tinker v. Des Moines, 393 U.S. 503 (1969), use certain offensive words and phrases to convey political messages (Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971), contribute money under certain circumstances to political campaigns (Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976), advertise commercial products and professional services with some restrictions (Virginia Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Consumer Council, 425 U.S. 748 (1976); Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, 433 U.S. 350 (1977) and engage in symbolic speech (Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989); United States v. Eichman, 496 U.S. 310 (1990).

There were several landmark Supreme Court cases and laws before Citizens United that attempted to regulate campaign contributions. Political corruption is easily caused by immense sums of funds going to a candidate. A candidate will be more likely to benefit corporate interests because that will allow them access to more capital later to help in reelection efforts. This becomes problematic because average citizens do not have the capacity to donate large sums of money to a candidate. A large corporation 's speech is thus, worth far more than the average citizen. This drastically impacts the marketplace of ideas. John Stuart Mills in

I do believe private corporation should be able to influence elections helping to shape the legislature as well as the influence corporations have over elections. In the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, spending money politically is protected under the First Amendment. It is not allowed by the government to keep corporations from spending money in support

From the country’s conception, the US government has held a promise that no other country at the time had done: the voice of the people would be heard. However, recently in 2010, the Supreme Court decided through the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that corporations and unions through production of political action committees (PACs) are now given the ability to have “free speech” when it comes to the campaigns of candidates in elections, and in turn, are allowed to donate an unlimited amount of money to an electoral campaign. This case overturned the Tillman Act of 1907, which was made in response to growing sentiment that the wealthiest individuals of that time were overly-influencing the outcome of an election in their

The goal of corporations when incorporating a logo is to be memorable to the consumer and investor. Companies like Nike, Harley-Davidson, and Apple have an instant appeal to the public with their corporate symbolism. The emblem for Chevron with the blue and red “v- shaped” stripes in a militaristic badge pattern is recognized worldwide as one of the most famous of the six “supermajor” oil companies. These six, powerful corporations are sometimes referred to as “big oil” in the New York Stock Exchange and are known for their influence in the political arena. Chevron’s roots trace back to Northern California in 1879 and the company endured several name changes because of successful mergers, including Pacific

When conducting a business proposition whether locally or in another country ethics will always have an impact on the decision to be made, ethics makes up the majority of how individuals feel about whether or not they are willing to accept or reject the decisions to do business. As we discuss the ethical perspectives or business ethics of a foreign country it will show how and what is the difference.