Corporations and Humans Are Not Created Equal
Table of Contents
You will not find the word corporations in the Bill of Rights or the Constitution. Our founders were not passionately fighting so that corporations would not be oppressed. Corporations have no unalienable rights, and are certainly not guaranteed life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness. Corporations are state law creations and their rights to participate in the political process should not out-weigh those of real U.S. citizens.
Do Corporations Have a Right to Spend on Elections?
Americans can spend money on politics because that is their First Amendment Right. Corporations can only spend money on politics because states have allowed them to do so and therefore, granted them rights not conferred in the Constitution. In Delaware, private corporate foundations are not able to spend money on elections.1 One way to stop corporations from exercising their immense power and tarnishing our elections is for states to relieve them of that power. The Supreme Court will not.
Where Does Corporate Political Power Come From?
Tom Moore, from the Center for American Progress, explains that because states have “given corporations virtual free rein for so long through general corporate charters,” they have the power to withhold some or all of those powers. He points out that this does not restrict corporate rights but redefines the powers of corporations within a state border. 2
What Is the Corporate Power Reset?
The corporate power reset is meant to make Citizens United obsolete. How does it do this? Well, since state laws define what corporations are and what rights they have, a state has the power to remove political spending rights from corporations by redefining their corporate charters.
What Are Hawaii and Montana Doing?
This approach is gaining traction. Hawaii passed legislation that will prohibit corporations, business entities, non-profit associations, and other artificial entities from spending money or providing anything of value to influence candidate elections or ballot measures. Essentially, Hawaii is changing the existing grants of corporate power under state law to clarify that political spending is not one of those powers.3
Given the immense frustration with dark money and corporations influencing our elections, this movement is taking off. The Montana Supreme Court has certified a ballot statement for a voter initiative that will prohibit corporations from spending money on influencing elections.4 This will be extremely impactful if passed.
How Do You Protect Nonprofit Speech?
There are legal challenges to clarifying state laws so they no longer confer on corporations the right to spend money on politics, and we submit that when applied to non-profits, these changes should not prevent organizations from having an ability to make their voices heard.
However, RDM supports changes to state law to make clear corporations do not have the power to put their thumbs on the election scales through vast political contributions. Large corporations that pay big money to influence politics are going to have an outsized impact on the policies they enact. That is bad for democracy and the American people.
Contact your state legislators and ask them to pass legislation revoking the rights of corporations to make political contributions.
Key Takeaways
- Corporations are entities created by state law and through expanding charters, have been treated as persons with the rights to make political contributions via free speech.
- In the Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Court held that the federal government could not restrict corporations’ political spending as it infringes on free speech.
- The corporate power reset is a movement among states, like Delaware, Hawaii, and Montana, to amend corporate charters so they no longer have the right to make political contributions.
Common Questions About Corporate Election Spending
Do corporations have a constitutional right to spend on elections?
Corporations only have the rights conferred upon them by states but if provided the same rights as people, they have the right to make political contributions.
What is the corporate power reset?
States can amend their laws that define corporate charters and the rights that corporations have, including their right to political speech and political spending.
Can a state ban corporate political spending?
No, states cannot directly ban corporations from spending on elections due to the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling. However, the rights of the corporations can be redefined to prevent this kind of spending.
What did Hawaii and Montana do?
Hawaii has passed legislation to redefine the rights of corporations through their corporate charters to exclude political spending as one of the rights of a corporation. Montana will vote on a ballot initiative this November accomplishing the same corporate power reset.
Sources
- Delaware Legislature. “Title 8.” Delaware.Gov, 2025, https://delcode.delaware.gov/title8/c001/sc02/index.html ↩︎
- Moore, Tom. “The Corporate Power Reset That Makes Citizens United Irrelevant.” Center for American Progress, 15 Sept. 2025, https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-corporate-power-reset-that-makes-citizens-united-irrelevant/ ↩︎
- Ellinger-Locke, Maggie. “‘Corporate Power Reset’ Movement: Updates from the States – Alliance for Justice.” Alliance for Justice, 19 May 2026, https://afj.org/article/corporate-power-reset-movement-updates-from-the-states/ ↩︎
- Riquelmy, Alan. “Montana Supreme Court Certifies Ballot Measure on Corporate Election Spending.” Courthouse News Service, 10 June 2026, https://www.courthousenews.com/montana-supreme-court-certifies-ballot-measure-on-corporate-election-spending/ ↩︎
This piece has not been corrected since publication. If you find an error, tell us at Get Engaged and we will fix it in public.
