Politics
Perceptions of Shifts in Public Opinion Are Wildly Off Base
People greatly overestimate how conservative people were in the past, leading to an exaggerated impression of liberal progress, according to a study by Yale SOM’s Jason Dana and Adam Mastroianni of Columbia Business School.

A Year Later, Most CEOs Are Keeping Their Post-Insurrection Promises
Recent news stories have asserted that corporate leaders are reneging on their pledges to withhold contributions to members of Congress who voted against certifying election results on January 6, 2021. But Yale SOM's Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, who hosted one of the meetings where those pledges were made, writes that CEOs remain deeply troubled by threats to democracy, and that campaign records show that most corporate PACs aren't giving to election objectors.
Without a Local Newspaper, Americans Pay Less Attention to Local Politics
Prof. Michael Sinkinson and his co-authors look back at when television, not the internet, was the new technology chipping away at newspaper circulation. They find that when readership diminished, engagement with local politics did too.
COVID Outcomes in Two States Show That Leadership Matters
Yale SOM’s Anjani Jain and Jeffrey Sonnenfeld on how the rhetoric and policies of Governors Ron DeSantis of Florida and Ned Lamont of Connecticut have shaped their states’ responses to the resurgence of COVID-19—with profound implications for their constituents.
When Should CEOs Speak Out?
Many corporate leaders are overcoming their hesitancy about wading into divisive social issues. Prof. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld offers some guidelines for when and how business leaders should weigh in.
What Went Wrong in Afghanistan?
We asked Prof. Paul Bracken, an expert in business and military strategy, how the U.S. could have avoided a chaotic exit from Afghanistan, and what comes next for the region.
Leadership Lessons for Biden after the Afghanistan Withdrawal
Yale SOM's Jeffrey Sonnenfeld offers advice for the president on recovering from his missteps, drawn from Sonnenfeld's decades of studies of business and political leadership.
The Compromise Infrastructure Bill Reflects the Public’s Priorities
The infrastructure bill that advanced in the Senate this week doesn’t please partisans on either side. But an analysis from Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld shows a rough correspondence with the objectives favored by the public in polls.
To Reduce Risk, Build Trust, in Developing Countries and the U.S.
Mena Cammett ’12 of the World Bank says that the tools used to analyze risk in emerging markets are increasingly relevant to the United States. To mitigate vulnerabilities, build trust.
Can Business Leaders Be a Force for Democracy?
In the wake of the presidential election, Yale SOM leadership expert Jeffrey Sonnenfeld hosted three urgent discussions with top CEOs, where they discussed their concern about attempts to overturn the results and made a much-reported pledge to freeze donations to legislators who voted to reject election results.
Business Leaders Are Deeply Concerned about Public Safety—and Democracy
At a virtual meeting convened by Yale SOM leadership expert Jeffrey Sonnenfeld in the wake of the attack on the Capitol, CEOs voiced worries and brainstormed ideas for how business can help strengthen democracy.