ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests various sets of guiding principles and specific measures that can encourage an amplified public voice in the private investment decisions of contractors. The principles of conditionality, proportionality, oversight, and enforcement must be written into procurement contracts and legislation in order to tie the receipt of federal moneys to specific benchmarks of workplace reform and community reinvestment. The chapter also suggests concurrent changes in the internal corporate governance of defense contractors and their ownership structure to minimize both the economic dislocation and the windfall profits created by defense contractor restructuring. The Connecticut legislation attaches enforceable accountability mechanisms to defense diversification subsidies, incentives, and tax abatements. Financial incentives for new technology development provide no guarantee that defense contractors will use their cost savings for training or reinvestment. The benefits to the public are often intangible and ambiguous: for example, more participation, better jobs, commercial technology development, or, perhaps most difficult, national security.
