Activists Turn from Washington to Wall Street

For the past 35 years, Common Cause has lobbied Congress on everything from open- meetings laws to campaign-finance reform. But facing stiff resistance to its issues in Washington these days, the good-government group is opening a second front in its push for reform: Wall Street.
...By forging a political coalition with shareholders at the nation's 30 largest mutual funds, Common Cause aims to pressure corporations to reveal which political campaigns they have supported. Its hope: Outraged shareholders will force more scrutiny and demand change.
It's a strategy that activists of various stripes are using. If a Republican Congress and administration prefer free markets to regulation, the thinking goes, then use marketplace dynamics to raise standards. Wall Street is listening.