Democracy Is in Trouble. Business Must Help Fix It.

27 Jul 2020

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Strengthening democracy is the only way to ensure the survival of free-market capitalism. Recent survey data paints a sobering picture: Fifty-five percent of Americans say that their democracy is “weak,” and 68% fear it is getting weaker. Roughly half agree that America is in “real danger of becoming a nondemocratic, authoritarian country.” If government is the counterweight to the free market, democracy is the force that ensures that governments do not devolve into tyranny, seizing control of the markets in the process. The business community has played an important role in strengthening democracy and in rebuilding society in countries as diverse as Chile, South Africa, and Germany. It can happen again, but only if business leaders understand the extent to which free markets depend on democratic governments — and only if they are willing to stop actively destroying them. --------------------------------------------------------------------- At Harvard Business Review, we believe in management. If the world’s organizations and institutions were run more effectively, if our leaders made better decisions, if people worked more productively, we believe that all of us — employees, bosses, customers, our families, and the people our businesses affect — would be better off. So we try to arm our readers with ideas that help them become smarter, more creative, and more courageous in their work. We enlist the foremost experts in a wide range of topics, including career planning, strategy, leadership, work-life balance, negotiations, innovation, and managing teams. Harvard Business Review empowers professionals around the world to lead themselves and their organizations more effectively and to make a positive impact. Sign up for Newsletters: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters Follow us: https://hbr.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/harvard-business-review/ https://www.facebook.com/HBR/ https://twitter.com/HarvardBiz https://www.instagram.com/harvard_business_review

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