The book explains how the locus of entrepreneurial power is rooted in liberal political theory and how it has evolved over time, from the founders of the 19th century to the professional managers of the 20th and, today, to the shareholders who, as investors or active shareowners, exert increasing influence over the making of strategy.
Entrepreneurs and democracy shows that democratic procedures find their way into corporate governance, albeit with some delay compared to society at large. Today, enfranchisement (free entreprising), separation of powers (CEO and Boards), and representation with public debate (voice in marketplace) are as much a part of corporate governance as they are of political governance. Power over the corporation is and always has been a political as much as an economic issue.
Entrepreneurs and democracy: A political Theory of Corporate Governance, by P.-Y. Gomez and H. Korine, Cambridge University press, 2008. |