Editing Amway (section)

==Politics and culture==
===Political contributions===
In the 1990s, the Amway organization was a major contributor to the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] (GOP) and to the election campaigns of various GOP candidates. Amway and its sales force contributed a substantial amount (up to half) of the total funds ($669,525) for the [[United States House of Representatives elections, 1994|1994 political campaign]] of Republican congresswoman and Amway distributor [[Sue Myrick]] (N.C.).<ref name=burstein>{{cite web |title=She Did it Amway |author=Rachel Burstein |magazine=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |date=September–October 1996 |url=http://motherjones.com/politics/1996/09/she-did-it-amway |access-date=May 11, 2011 |archive-date=February 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211054535/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/1996/09/she-did-it-amway/ |url-status=live }}</ref> According to two reports by ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]'' magazine, Amway distributor Dexter Yager "used the company's extensive voice-mail system to rally hundreds of Amway distributors into giving a total of $295,871" to Myrick's campaign.<ref name=burstein/><ref name=zibrowski>{{cite web |title=Tough sell |author=John Zibrowski, Jenna Ziman |magazine=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |date=November–December 1998 |url=http://motherjones.com/politics/1998/11/tough-sell |access-date=May 11, 2011 |archive-date=February 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224060459/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/1998/11/tough-sell/ |url-status=live }}</ref> According to a campaign staffer quoted by the magazine, Myrick had appeared regularly on the Amway circuit, speaking at hundreds of rallies and selling $5 and $10 audiotapes.<ref name=burstein/> Following the 1994 election, Myrick maintained "close ties to Amway and Yager", and raised $100,000 from Amway sources, "most notably through fundraisers at the homes of big distributors", in the 1997–98 election cycle.<ref name=zibrowski/>

In October 1994, Amway gave the biggest corporate contribution recorded to that date to a political party for a single election, $2.5&nbsp;million to the [[Republican National Committee]] (RNC), and was the number one corporate political donor in the United States.<ref name=burstein/> In the 2004 election cycle, the organization contributed a total of $4 million to a conservative [[527 group]], [[Progress for America]].<ref>From opensecrets.org: [http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cmtedetail.asp?ein=201170395&cycle=2004&format=&tname=Progress+for+America Progress for America – Top Contributors, 2004 Cycle] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060818110238/http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cmtedetail.asp?ein=201170395&cycle=2004&format=&tname=Progress+for+America |date=August 18, 2006}}</ref>

In July 1996, Amway co-founder Richard DeVos was honored at a $3&nbsp;million fundraiser for the Republican Party, and a week later, it was reported that Amway had tried to donate $1.3&nbsp;million to pay for Republican "infomercials" and televising of the GOP convention on [[Pat Robertson]]'s [[History of Freeform (TV channel)#The Family Channel|Family Channel]], but backed off when Democrats criticized the donation as a ploy to avoid campaign-finance restrictions.<ref name=burstein/><ref name=vlasic>{{cite news |last=Vlasic |first=Bill |title=Amway II: The Kids Take Over |work=BusinessWeek |date=February 16, 1998 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/1998-02-15/amway-ii-the-kids-take-over |access-date=December 29, 2018 |archive-date=December 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181230181029/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/1998-02-15/amway-ii-the-kids-take-over |url-status=live }}</ref>

In April 1997, Richard DeVos and his wife, Helen, gave $1&nbsp;million to the RNC,<ref name=zibrowski/><ref name=vlasic/> which, at the time, was the second-largest [[Campaign finance in the United States|soft-money]] donation ever, behind Amway's 1994 gift of $2.5&nbsp;million to the RNC.<ref name=zibrowski/> In July 1997, [[Senate Majority Leader]] [[Trent Lott]] and [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|House Speaker]] [[Newt Gingrich]] slipped a last-minute provision into a hotly contested compromise tax bill that granted Amway and four other companies a tax break on their Asian branches that totaled $19&nbsp;million.<ref name=zibrowski/>

In a column published in the ''[[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]]'' newspaper in August 1997,<ref name=Ivins>{{cite news|last=Ivins|first=Molly|title=Congress distributes a tax break to Amway|newspaper=[[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]]|date=August 7, 1997}}</ref> reporter [[Molly Ivins]] wrote that Amway had "its own [[Congressional caucus|caucus]] in Congress...Five Republican House members are also Amway distributors: Reps. Sue Myrick of North Carolina, [[Jon Lynn Christensen|Jon Christensen]] of Nebraska, [[Dick Chrysler]] of Michigan, [[Richard Pombo]] of California, and [[John Ensign]] of Nevada. Their informal caucus meets several times a year with Amway bigwigs to discuss policy matters affecting the company, including China's trade status."<ref name=MediaTransparency1>{{cite web|last=Berkowitz|first=Bill|title=Amway's GOPyramid Scheme|url=http://old.mediatransparency.org/story.php?storyID=4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110311210455/http://old.mediatransparency.org/story.php?storyID=4|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 11, 2011|date=February 16, 1998|publisher=[[Media Transparency]]|access-date=May 17, 2011}}</ref>

A 1998 analysis of campaign contributions conducted by ''[[Businessweek]]'' found that Amway, along with the founding families and some top distributors, had donated at least $7&nbsp;million to GOP causes in the preceding decade.<ref name=vlasic/> Political candidates who received campaign funding from Amway in 1998 included Representatives [[Bill Redmond]] (R–N.M.), [[Heather Wilson]] (R–N.M.), and Jon Christensen (R–Neb).<ref name=zibrowski/>

According to a report by the [[Center for Public Integrity]], in the 2004 election cycle, members of the Van Andel and DeVos families were the second, third and fifth largest donors to the Republican party.<ref name=MediaTransparency2>{{cite web |last=Houle |first=Dana |title=Bush Authoritarianism: Blackwater+Amway=GOP, Pt. 3 |url=http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/21/400840/-Bush-Authoritarianism:-Blackwater+AmwayGOP,-Pt-3 |date=October 21, 2007 |publisher=[[Daily Kos]] |access-date=May 17, 2011 |archive-date=January 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170119042303/http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/21/400840/-Bush-Authoritarianism:-Blackwater+AmwayGOP,-Pt-3 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Dick DeVos]], son of Amway founder Richard DeVos and past president of the company, served as Finance Chairman of the Republican National Committee,<ref name="Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation">{{cite web |url=http://old.mediatransparency.org/funderprofile.php?funderID=17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110311210315/http://old.mediatransparency.org/funderprofile.php?funderID=17 |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 11, 2011 |title=Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation |publisher=Old.mediatransparency.org |access-date=July 9, 2011}}</ref> and his wife [[Betsy DeVos]] served as chair of the [[Michigan Republican Party]] from 1996 to 2000 and 2003 to 2005.<ref name=Scahill>{{cite book |last=[[Jeremy Scahill]] |title=Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army |year=2007 |publisher=Nation Books |isbn=978-1-56858-394-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/blackwater00scah/page/72 72] |title-link=Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army}}</ref>

In May 2005, Dick DeVos ran against incumbent Governor [[Jennifer Granholm]] in [[Michigan gubernatorial election, 2006|Michigan's 2006 gubernatorial election]]. DeVos was defeated by Granholm, who won 56% of the popular vote to his 42%.<ref name="Michigan Department of State">{{cite news |last=State of Michigan |first=Department of State |author2=Terry Lynn Land |author3=Secretary of State |title=2006 Michigan Gubernatorial General Election |work=Governor 4 Year Term (1) Position |date=May 10, 2007 |url=http://miboecfr.nictusa.com/election/results/06GEN/02000000.html |access-date=November 9, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071111144945/http://miboecfr.nictusa.com/election/results/06GEN/02000000.html |archive-date=November 11, 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In August 2012, gay rights activist [[Fred Karger]] began a movement to boycott Amway in protest of the contribution from a private foundation of Amway President [[Doug DeVos]] to the [[National Organization for Marriage]], a political organization which opposes legalization of [[same-sex marriage]] in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/08/02/amway-faces-boycott-over-donation-to-anti-gay-group/ |title=Amway faces boycott over donation to anti-gay group |access-date=August 3, 2012 |archive-date=November 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105211641/http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/08/02/amway-faces-boycott-over-donation-to-anti-gay-group/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Betsy DeVos was [[United States Secretary of Education]] from 2017 to 2021 under the [[First presidency of Donald Trump|first Trump administration]].<ref>{{cite news|title=How Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Will Be Remembered|last=Turner|first=Corey|work=NPR|date=November 19, 2020|accessdate=November 7, 2024|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/11/19/936225974/the-legacy-of-education-secretary-betsy-devos}}</ref>

===Religion===
Several sources have commented on the promotion of [[Christian right|Christian conservative]] ideology within the Amway organization.<ref name=zibrowski/><ref name= butterfield>{{cite book |title=Amway: The Cult of Free Enterprise |author=Stephen Butterfield |publisher=[[South End Press]] |year=1985 |url=https://archive.org/details/amwaycultoffreee00butt |url-access=registration |at=[https://archive.org/details/amwaycultoffreee00butt/page/185 185] pages |isbn=9780896082533}}</ref><ref name=henein>{{cite web |title=The Revenge of the Amdroids |author=Maryam Henein |newspaper=[[Philadelphia City Paper]] |date=November 28 – December 5, 1997 |url=http://archives.citypaper.net/articles/112896/article009.shtml |access-date=May 11, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130414080932/http://archives.citypaper.net/articles/112896/article009.shtml |archive-date=April 14, 2013 |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Do You know these godfathers? You should |author=Zina Klapper |work=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |date=February–March 1981 |page=33–M |url=http://motherjones.com/ |access-date=May 10, 2011 |archive-date=March 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210312000510/https://www.motherjones.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]'' magazine described the Amway distributor force as "heavily influenced by the company's dual themes of Christian morality and free enterprise" and operating "like a private political army".<ref name=zibrowski/> In ''The Cult of Free Enterprise'', Stephen Butterfield, who spent time in the Yager group within Amway, wrote "[Amway] sells a marketing and motivational system, a cause, a way of life, in a fervid emotional atmosphere of rallies and political religious revivalism."<ref name=butterfield/> ''[[Philadelphia City Paper]]'' correspondent Maryam Henein stated that "The language used in motivational tools for Amway frequently echoes or directly quotes the Bible, with the unstated assumption of a shared Christian perspective."<ref name=henein/>

''[[Businessweek]]'' correspondents Bill Vlasic and Beth Regan characterized the founding families of Amway as "fervently conservative, fervently Christian, and hugely influential in the Republican Party", noting that "Rich DeVos charged up the troops with a message of Christian beliefs and rock-ribbed conservatism."<ref name=vlasic/>

High-ranking Amway leaders such as Richard DeVos and Dexter Yager were owners and members of the board of [[Gospel Films]], a producer of movies and books geared toward conservative Christians, as well as co-owners (along with [[Salem Communications]]) of a right-wing, Christian nonprofit called Gospel Communications International.<ref name=zibrowski/><ref name=henein/><ref name= williams>{{cite book | title = How to Be Like Rich DeVos: Succeeding with Integrity in Business and Life | publisher = HCI | year = 2004 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4-ggPcMN-skC | isbn = 9780757301582 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name= hkdsa>{{cite web| title = Asian Symposium on Direct Selling 2007: Speakers Bios—Doug DeVos| publisher = Direct Selling Association of Hong Kong| url = http://www.hkdsa.org.hk/symposium/2007/speakerbio/DougDeVos.htm| access-date = May 11, 2011| archive-date = March 24, 2012| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120324121455/http://www.hkdsa.org.hk/symposium/2007/speakerbio/DougDeVos.htm| url-status = dead}}</ref><ref name= calvin>{{cite web| title = Gospel Communications International/Billy Zeoli Scholarship in Christian Media and Communication| author = Calvin College| year = 2011| url = http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/scholarships/| access-date = May 11, 2011| author-link = Calvin College| archive-date = July 5, 2011| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110705202946/http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/scholarships/| url-status = dead}}</ref> Yager, interviewed on ''[[60 Minutes]]'' in 1983, admitted that he promotes Christianity through his Amway group, but stated that this might not be the case in other Amway groups.<ref name="60 minutes">{{cite episode |title=Soap and Hope |series=[[60 Minutes]] |credits=Presenter:[[Mike Wallace (journalist)|Mike Wallace]] |network=[[CBS]]. Year 1983 }}</ref>{{request quotation|date=March 2016}}

''[[Rolling Stone]]'s'' Bob Moser reported that former Amway CEO and co-founder Richard DeVos is connected with the [[Dominionist]] political movement in the United States. Moser states that DeVos was a supporter of the late [[D. James Kennedy]], giving more than $5&nbsp;million to Kennedy's [[Coral Ridge Ministries]].<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/7235393/the_crusaders/ "The Crusaders"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080318185336/http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/7235393/the_crusaders/ |date=March 18, 2008 }} Bob Moser, April 7, 2005, '' [[Rolling Stone]]''</ref><ref name=ReligionDispatches>{{cite news |last=Berkowitz|first=Bill |title=Worse Than Madoff: Amway Launches Domestic Revival |url=https://religiondispatches.org/worse-than-madoff-amway-launches-domestic-revival/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060953/http://religiondispatches.org/worse-than-madoff-amway-launches-domestic-revival/ |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |access-date=November 29, 2024 |newspaper=[[Religion Dispatches]] |date=June 18, 2009}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name=AlbionMonitor>{{cite news|last=Berkowitz|first=Bill|title=Amway Shoots For Comeback, Despite Right-Wing Ties of Founders|url=http://www.albionmonitor.com/0901a/copyright/amwaycomeback.html|access-date=May 17, 2011|newspaper=Albion Monitor|date=January 30, 2009|archive-date=April 13, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120413042613/http://www.albionmonitor.com/0901a/copyright/amwaycomeback.html|url-status=live}}</ref> DeVos was also a founding member and two-time president of the [[Council for National Policy]], a right-wing Christian organization.<ref name=Zirin>{{cite book|last=[[Dave Zirin]]|title=Bad Sports: How Owners Are Ruining the Games We Love|year=2010|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|isbn=978-1-4165-5475-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/badsportshowowne0000ziri/page/91 91]|url=https://archive.org/details/badsportshowowne0000ziri/page/91}}</ref>

Sociologist [[David G. Bromley]] calls Amway a "quasi-religious corporation" having [[sectarian]] characteristics.<ref name="bromley-quasi-religious"/><ref>''Transformative movements and quasi-religious corporations: the case of Amway'', by [[David G. Bromley]]. In ''Sacred Companies: Organizational Aspects of Religion and Religious Aspects of Organizations'', edited by Nicholas Jay Demerath, [[Peter Dobkin Hall]], Terry Schmitt and [[Rhys H. Williams (sociologist)|Rhys H. Williams]], pages 349–363. [[Oxford University Press]], 1998</ref> Bromley and [[Anson Shupe]] view Amway as preaching the [[Prosperity theology|gospel of prosperity]].<ref>''Rebottling the Elixir: The Gospel of Prosperity in America's Religioeconomic Corporations'', by [[David G. Bromley]] and [[Anson Shupe]]. In ''In Gods we trust: new patterns of religious pluralism in America'', edited by [[Thomas Robbins (sociologist)|Thomas Robbins]] and Dick Anthony, pages 233–254. [[Transaction Publishers]], 1990</ref> Patralekha Bhattacharya and Krishna Kumar Mehta,  reasoned that although some critics have referred to organizations such as Amway as "cults" and have speculated that they engage in "mind control", there are other explanations that could account for the behavior of distributors. Namely, continued involvement of distributors despite minimal economic return may result from social satisfaction compensating for diminished economic satisfaction.<ref name="bhattacharye-mehta">''Socialization in network marketing organizations: is it cult behavior?'' by Patralekha Bhattacharya and Krishna Kumar Mehta, Journal of Socio-Economics. 29(4):361–374.</ref>

===Chamber of commerce===
Amway co-founder [[Jay Van Andel]] (in 1980), and later his son Steve Van Andel (in 2001), were elected by the board of directors of the [[United States Chamber of Commerce]] to be the chairman of the private [[lobbying|American lobbying]] organization.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uschamber.com/about/board/steve-van-andel |title=Steve Van Andel |publisher=U.S. Chamber of Commerce |access-date=July 9, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208080305/http://www.uschamber.com/about/board/steve-van-andel |archive-date=December 8, 2013 |df=mdy }}</ref>

===Accreditation program===
In 2006, Amway (then Quixtar in North America) introduced its ''Professional Development Accreditation Program'' in response to concerns surrounding business support materials (BSM), including books, tapes and meetings.<ref>{{cite web|title=Quixtar Professional Development Accreditation Program |url=http://www.quixtaraccreditation.com/ |website=Quixtar Accreditation |publisher=Quixtar, Inc. |access-date=26 March 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060821223815/http://www.quixtaraccreditation.com/ |archive-date=August 21, 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Dornan|first1=Beth|title=A short history of BSMs (business support materials)|url=http://www.amwayinsider.com/2006/09/01/a-short-history-of-bsms-business-support-materials/|website=Amway Insider|publisher=Amway|access-date=26 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406235333/http://www.amwayinsider.com/2006/09/01/a-short-history-of-bsms-business-support-materials/|archive-date=April 6, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2010 this was superseded by its ''Accreditation Plus'' program to ensure that all BSM content is consistent with Amway's quality assurance standards, which approved providers of BSM must abide by.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Droog|first1=Cindy|title=A+|url=http://www.amwayinsider.com/2011/02/15/a/|website=Amway Insider|publisher=Amway|access-date=26 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407041111/http://www.amwayinsider.com/2011/02/15/a/|archive-date=April 7, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=IBOAI Milestones|url=http://www.iboai.com/your-iboai-board/iboai-history/iboai-milestones|website=IBOAI – Your Voice|publisher=IBOAI|access-date=26 March 2016|archive-date=March 25, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325034650/http://iboai.com/your-iboai-board/iboai-history/iboai-milestones|url-status=live}}</ref> The quality assurance standards state that<ref>{{cite web|title=Quality Assurance Standards for Business Support Materials (BSM)|url=http://www.amway.in/store/amway/en/INR/static-pages/amwayPdfLink/QAS|website=Amway india|publisher=Amway|access-date=26 March 2016|archive-date=April 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423065109/http://www.amway.in/store/amway/en/INR/static-pages/amwayPdfLink/QAS|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=UKRAINIAN BSM (BUSINESS SUPPORT MATERIAL) QUALITY ASSURANCE STANDARDS|url=https://www.amway.ua/_fileserver/item/11768/BSM_QAS_EN.pdf|website=Amway|access-date=26 March 2016|archive-date=April 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407204146/https://www.amway.ua/_fileserver/item/11768/BSM_QAS_EN.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Quality Assurance Standards|url=http://www.amway.com/lcl/en/ResourceCenterDocuments/Distributor/ops-amw-fact-d-en--QualityAssuranceStandards.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.amway.com/lcl/en/ResourceCenterDocuments/Distributor/ops-amw-fact-d-en--QualityAssuranceStandards.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|website=Amway|access-date=26 March 2016}}{{subscription required}}</ref>
* Promoting political causes or other issues of a personal nature in the Amway Business environment is not permitted 
* Spiritual references are not allowed as the message or focus and presenters may not use the stage as a platform to promote religious and/or personal social beliefs
* Endorsement or denouncement of specific candidates, political parties, and/or issues, unless specifically related to the operation of an Amway Business is not allowed.