ABSTRACT
The UK's decision to leave the European Union, and thereby to unravel some 40 years of ever closer union and integration between the member states, is not just about redefining domestic politics. This chapter begins with clarification of why the Brexit vote has triggered a crisis of European democracy, and why this is a genuine concern for business, which should motivate an active interest in corporate democratic nation-building. It then argues that businesses can employ democratic nation-building by consciously designing operations that actively reinforce or implement a range of key enabling conditions of democracy. The emphasis is not on the actual, specific measures that businesses can use to promote democracy, but rather the focal point is on clarifying the underlying structural conditions that enable businesses to promote democracy. The chapter talks about the ontological conditions that put businesses in the unprecedented position of state-like actors able to actively promote values and processes that are conducive to democracy.
