In Fall 2011, two groups released studies assessing transparency and accountability in political spending of S&P100 companies. The rankings of these two studies are provided below as a resource for understanding the political spending policies and practices at some of the country's largest companies. Companies which received a score of 80 or higher (out of 100) in both indexes have been highlighted in green to note their "top-tier" ranking; companies which received a score of 20 or below (out of 100) in both indexes have been highlighted in red to note their "bottom-tier" ranking. CPA released an updated ranking in Fall of 2012.
> Click here for profiles of the 20 Least Transparent Companies
(report released March 2012)
The first of these indexes, the Baruch Index of Corporate Political Disclosure (“Baruch Index”) measures a company's willingness to disclose and be transparent about its corporate political activity, with regard to: (1) Ease with which someone can find the relevant materials on the corporate website; (2) What policies, procedures, and corporate governance structures are in place and disclosed; and (3) What the corporation says about who and what it gives to, and how those donations are made. Companies received scores from 0-100, within the following categories: Transparent/Top Tier (above 80); Strong (61–80); Moderate (41–60); Weak: (21–40); and Opaque/Lowest Tier (0–20). For more information on the Baruch Index, visit http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/baruchindex/.
The second of these indexes, the CPA-Zicklin Index of Corporate Political Disclosure and Accountability (“CPA-Zicklin Index”) depicts (1) The ways that companies engage in, manage and oversee political spending, or refrain from it; (2) The specific spending restrictions that many companies have adopted; and (3) The policies and practices that leave room for the greatest improvement. Companies received scores from 0-100 based on an analysis of 29 indicators to gauge disclosure, policies, compliance, and oversight. For more information on the CPA-Zicklin Index, visit http://www.politicalaccountability.net/index.php?ht=d/sp/i/5848/pid/5848
