To Toe the Party Line? The Impact of Firm and CEO Partisanship on Corporate Mass-Media Normative Legitimacy.

This article examines the legitimacy consequences of corporate political activity (CPA), specifically focusing on partisan political action committee (PAC) contributions made by firms and their CEOs. Using 20 years of data from S&P 500 firms and analyzing mass-media reporting tone as a proxy for public affective legitimacy, the study finds that both firm-level and CEO-level partisan PAC contributions are negatively associated with corporate legitimacy, with CEO partisanship having a stronger negative effect. Post hoc analyses reveal that firms tend to reduce partisan PAC contributions and lobbying expenditures in response to negative legitimacy evaluations, while CEO partisan contributions remain largely unaffected. The study also identifies that state-level public political polarization moderates the relationship between CEO partisan contributions and legitimacy perceptions. These findings highlight the importance of incorporating public normative evaluations into CPA research and suggest practical implications for executives considering partisan political engagement.