ABSTRACT
Business, government, and religion enjoyed roles and obligations that were relatively stable, at least in theory and often in practice. This was the period when Toqueville, Alexis de observed Americans' willingness to extend time and money to help neighbors and the less fortunate. In the 1970s, the Carter Administration attempted to quiet what had become a strained relationship between business and government, by introducing the notion of "public-private partnership". Chief executive officers who take their public role seriously and tackle it creatively, recognize that their companies' public involvement budgets are major devices for influencing the well being of the wider community from which their next generation of stockholders, employees and regulators will come. A corporate executive's ability to use his or her time, energy, and skill in a balanced and mutually reinforcing way to respond to the interests of all three stakeholders will be one of the acid tests of corporate leadership.
