Aspiring autocrats are increasingly pressuring businesses to co-operate with their quest for wealth and power, such as by demanding they direct corporate funds towards their personal enrichment or fire personnel who are critical of them.

Autocrats undermine democratic societies by rejecting the rule of law, the separation of powers, free and fair elections and the rights of vulnerable groups. They also threaten free markets by tying business success to political co-operation and obedience rather than to skill in the marketplace.

On this International Day of Democracy, these threats remind us that the business community is a critical part of democratic society and it shares responsibility for protecting it.

Public reaction often splits when companies are regarded as having capitulated to autocratic demands, as when Paramount settled a lawsuit with U.S. President Donald Trump over editorial decisions in the production of a CBS interview.

Read more: ABC's and CBS's settlements with Trump are a dangerous step toward the commander in chief becoming the editor-in-chief

In such cases, some direct their anger towards the companies, arguing they have........

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