Corporate political behavior is affected by the relationship of managers to a fi rm’s stakeholders, of whom shareholders are a critical element. This chapter looks at how managers and shareholders related to one another and how potential principal-agent problems can be submerged through a mutual acceptance of the implicit bargain. The implicit bargain is the “unwritten deal” that brings congruence between the needs of the managers and the needs of the shareholders. It is a deal that relies on trust, performance, slack, and reasonable oversight to make the fi rm economically and politically sustainable. The implicit bargain is the basis for private enforcement of corporate rules and regulations-and when misused becomes the generator for public governmental enforcement of corporate behavior.