Corporation
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About
A corporation is a legal entity that exists separately from the person(s) who work for it. This separation gives corporations particular legal capabilities unavailable to individuals and other types of organizations.
- In the United States, corporations have the legal status of an individual person in many regards (corporate personhood), including:
- the ability to own property
- the ability to sign binding contracts
- the requirement to pay taxes
- certain constitutional rights
- There is a significant sentiment that allowing this "personhood" may have been a bad idea, and perhaps it should be done away with.
- These abilities apparently do not include the right to vote or become a citizen, despite common usage of the phrase "corporate citizen" when describing the corporate role in society.
Quote
Corporations, which should be the carefully restrained creatures of the law and the servants of the people, are fast becoming the people's masters.
Notes
- Most business (by dollar volume, at least) is presumably conducted by corporations, but business can be conducted by individuals or other types of legal entities.
- Large corporations tend to spawn a particular kind of thinking which discourages innovation and long-term planning, among other flaws.
- Most corporations are formed with the intent of seeking profit for their owners.
