While business still gives more money to Republicans than Democrats, in recent election cycles an increasing amount of corporate money has been moving toward Democrats. When the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently began backing a few more Democrats, Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, accused the trade group of purging “most, if not all, of its real Republicans in top ranks.”

But perhaps these apparently shifting alliances should not be so surprising. That’s because business doesn’t have a political party. Its party is profit.

Business is aligned with Republicans when it comes to taxes and regulations because … well, profit. And business is aligned with Democrats on social issues that its customers and employees care about because … well, profit.

“American big business in particular has led the way toward making America more socially inclusive,” Tyler Cowen, an economist, wrote in his book “Big Business: A Love Letter to an American Anti-Hero.” But Mr. Cowen also noted that it is “profit maximization alone — not to mention the consciences of some C.E.O.s” — that “puts big business these days on the side of inclusion and tolerance.”