ABSTRACT
This chapter examines two practices that are widely considered to be benign exercises of economic power: corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities by business corporations and their managers and philanthropic donations by wealthy individuals and private grant-making foundations. Evaluations of these activities often focus on their motivations or substantive effects. This chapter argues instead that democratic criticism of CSR and philanthropy should focus on the operation of unaccountable influence. It considers the democratic standards that should constrain the use of private resources to produce or influence public goods, as well as the complexity of applying those standards in existing democratic societies.
