Transparent Elections after Citizens United

Post-Citizens United: Using Shareholder Derivative Claims of Corporate Waste to Challenge Corporate Independent Political Expenditures

“…'Corporate money' in a publicly traded company is in part made up of investments from shareholders. Thus, corporate spending is [,] in reality[,] the spending of investors' money[;]" 324 and shareholders, therefore, have a strong interest in not allowing the corporation to waste assets and expend large amounts of corporate treasury funds in support of political candidates that do not benefit the corporation. For these reasons, the issue of whether and how shareholders may be able to control independent political expenditures will be part of the legal discussion for the foreseeable future.…”