Network Analysis of Corporate Political Action, 1980 [United States]

This study detailed the political behavior of 57 large corporations in the United States in 1980. These corporations were selected by identifying the three largest firms whose primary operations were in each of 19 two-digit industries and that maintained a political action committee in the election cycle prior to selection. The primary goal of the study was to examine the extent to which economic interdependence and social connections between firms affected their political unity, defined in terms of similarity of behavior. The concern was with questions such as whether pairs of firms that operated in heavily interdependent industries were more likely to engage in similar political behavior than were pairs of firms in less interdependent industries.