US THINK TANK
The primary mission of the Acton Institute is to invoke religion as a defender of liberty and as an educator of individual responsibility in a free society.
Alexis de Tocqueville Institution
The Alexis de Tocqueville Institution (AdTI) was founded in 1986 to study, promote, and extend the principles of classical liberalism: political equality, civil liberty, and economic freedom. AdTI conducts research on five key areas of concern to policy makers: 1) education, 2) immigration, 3) national defense, 4) taxes & economic growth, and 5) deregulation.
The American Bankruptcy Institute
The American Bankruptcy Institute is the largest multi-disciplinary, non-partisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues.
Founded in 1943, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) sponsors original research on government policy, the American economy, and American politics. AEI research aims to preserve and to strengthen the foundations of a free society-government, competitive private enterprise, vital cultural and political institutions, and vigilant defense-rigorous inquiry, debate, and writing. The Institute is home to some of America’s most renowned economists, legal scholars, political scientists, and foreign policy specialists. AEI is an independent, nonpartisan organization financed by tax-deductible contributions from corporations, foundations, and individuals.
ANSER Institute for Homeland Security
The ANSER Institute for Homeland Security is a not-for-profit public-service research organization examining a new set of national security challenges. Initiated and funded by ANSER’s Board of Trustees in October 1999 and formally established in April 2001, the Institute believes that preparing for these new challenges will require a determined, integrated effort at every stage of the process: deterrence, prevention, preemption, crisis management, consequence management, attribution and response.
Army War College Strategic Studies Institute
The Army War College Strategic Studies Institute is U.S. Army’s strategic level think-tank. Its major missions are to analyze political trends that affect national security policy and provide a bridge between the U.S. Army and the wider strategic community. Our studies are used by think-tanks, military planners, policymakers, journalists, and academics around the world.
The Aspen Institute is an international, non-for-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the ability of business and professional leaders to understand and act upon the major issues challenging the national and international community.
Atlas Economic Research Foundation
The Atlas Economic Research Foundation, founded in 1981, is a nonprofit, tax-exempt entity that helps to create, develop, advise and support independent public policy research institutes internationally.
The Bionomics Institute is a nonprofit educational foundation dedicated to replacing the traditional, mechanistic view of the economy with economy-as-ecosystem thinking.
British American Security Information Council
The British American Security Information Council (BASIC) is an independent research organization that analyzes international security policy in Europe and North America. BASIC works to promote public awareness of defense, disarmament, military strategy, and nuclear policies in order to foster informed debate on these issues.
The Brookings Institution is a private nonprofit organization devoted to research, education, and publication in economics, government, foreign policy, and the social sciences generally.
Bureau of Governmental Research
The Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) is a private, non-profit, citizen-supported research organization dedicated to informed public-policy making and the improvement of local governments in the New Orleans metropolitan area. BGR also focuses on state and national issues which effect the metropolitan area.
The Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs
An independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to research and education at the nexus of ethics and international affairs.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace was established in 1910 in Washington, D.C., with a gift from Andrew Carnegie. As a tax-exempt operating (not grant-making) foundation, the Endowment conducts programs of research, discussion, publication, and education in international affairs and U.S. foreign policy. The Endowment also publishes the quarterly magazine Foreign Policy.
Mission: to explore voluntary, market-oriented answers to Oregon’s public policy questions. A non-profit, non-partisan and non-political organization.
The mission of the Cato Institute is to increase the understanding of public policies based on the principles of limited government, free markets, individual liberty, and peace.
Center for the American Woman and Politics
The Center for the American Woman and Politics (CAWP) is a university-based research, education and public service center. Its mission is to promote greater understanding and knowledge about women’s relationship to politics and government and to enhance women’s influence and leadership in public life.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is a nonpartisan research and policy institute that provides timely analysis on government policies and programs that affect people of low-and moderate-incomes. Areas of the Center’s work include budget and tax policy, nutrition and food programs, labor market policies, welfare, Medicaid, housing, and income distribution.
Center for Defense Information
Founded in 1972 as an independent monitor of the military, the Center for Defense Information is a private, nongovernmental, research organization. CDI seeks realistic and cost effective military spending without excess expenditures for weapons and policies that increase the danger of war. It supports adequate defense by evaluating our defense needs and how best to meet them without wasteful spending or compromising our national security.
As the only think tank devoted exclusively to the promotion of colorblind equal opportunity and racial harmony, the Center for Equal Opportunity (CEO) is uniquely positioned to counter the divisive impact of race conscious public policies. CEO focuses on three areas in particular: racial preferences, immigration and assimilation and multicultural education.
Center for Law and Social Policy
The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) is a national non-profit organization with expertise in both law and policy affecting the poor. Through education, policy research and advocacy, CLASP seeks to improve the economic conditions of low-income families with children and secure access for the poor to our civil justice system.
The CNP is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy organization, is dedicated to promoting the public interest. Since its founding in 1981, CNP has served as a forum for debate and discussion and has been a significant player in developing policy alternatives that are responsive to and effectively serve the interests of all Americans.
Center for Policy Alternatives
The Center for Policy Alternatives is the nation’s leading non-profit, non-partisan public policy and leadership development center devoted to community-based solutions that strengthen families and communities. CPA links elected leaders at the state level with leaders of private and non-profit sectors across the political spectrum, finding common ground, new ideas and resources to create solutions that work.
Center for Responsive Politics
The Center for Responsive Politics is a non-partisan, non-profit research group based in Washington, D.C. that specializes in the study of Congress and particularly the role that money plays in its elections and actions. The Center conducts computer-based research on campaign finance issues for the news media, academics, activists, and other interested observers of Congress. The Center’s work is aimed at creating a more involved citizenry and a more responsive Congress.
Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments
The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments is an independent policy research institute established to promote innovative thinking about defense planning and investment strategies for the 21st century. CSBA research makes clear the inextricable link between defense strategies and budgets in fostering a more effective and efficient defense, and the need to transform the U.S. military in light of the emerging military revolution.
Center for Strategic and International Studies
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a public policy research institution dedicated to policy analysis and impact. CSIS is the only institution of its kind that maintains resident experts on all the world’s major geographical regions. It also covers key functional areas, such as international finance, the emerging markets, U.S. domestic and economic policy related to the Strengthening of America, and U.S. foreign policy and national security issues.
Center for the Study of American Business
The Center for the Study of American Business was established at Washington University in St. Louis in 1975 to improve public understanding of the American business system and to foster a public policy environment in which the U.S. market economy can prosper. In the intervening years, the Center’s research has been recognized nationwide as a quality product in the “marketplace of ideas.” Its findings reach a wide audience of influential figures in business, government, academia, and the national media.
The Center for the New West is an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan institution for policy research, education and economic development.
Center for the Study of the Presidency
The Center for the Study of the Presidency, a public policy research center, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit educational corporation. Its goals are to build better citizens, better government, and better leaders. Its primary focus is the American presidency, and it seeks to develop a discipline of learning and a body of literature related thereto. The Center also seeks to better relate the business community to domestic and foreign public policy issues through leadership conferences, and to democratic institutions both at home and abroad.
Center for Urban Policy Research
For more than 25 years, the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University has informed the nation with its broad spectrum of urban research. Under the directorship of Norman J. Glickman, CUPR has made its mark in analyses of urban poverty, community development, economic development and forecasting, housing, land use, environmental policy, and Geographic Information Systems. CUPR is concerned with both academic urban research and the practical application of research results to policy design and implementation.
Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy
The Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy serves as a catalyst for the participation of women from diverse social, cultural, and economic backgrounds in the political life of the Commonwealth (Massachussetts) and the nation. The Center collaborates with a range of organizations, institutes, and media to promote awareness of issues involving women, politics, and policy development.
Centre for Independent Studies
The Centre for Independent Studies is the leading independent public policy research institute in Australia and New Zealand committed to individual liberty and choice, including freedoms of association, religion, speech and the right to property; an economy based on free and competitive markets; democratic government under the rule of law; the importance of an autonomous and free civil society.
The Claremont Institute seeks is to restore the principles of the American Founding to their rightful, preeminent authority in our national life. It upholds the ideas of liberty and equality. It believes there can be no freedom and justice without a limited and accountable government that respects private property, promotes stable family life and maintains secure borders and a strong defense.
Commonwealth Club of California
The Commonwealth Club of California is the largest and most prestigious public affairs speaking forum in the United States.
The Council on Foreign Relations, established in 1921, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that takes no position on issues but is dedicated to improving the understanding of international affairs and American foreign policy through the free exchange of ideas.
The Discovery Institute is a center for national and international affairs based in Seattle, WA. Its programs center on the application of advanced technology to individual liberty, representative democracy, free enterprise, internationalism, and the enduring moral principles of civilized society.
Founded in 1986 by a group of economic policy experts, the Economic Policy Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that seeks to broaden the public debate about strategies to achieve a prosperous and fair economy.
The Economic Strategy Institute was founded out of the deep concern of key U.S. industry and labor leaders with the erosion of America’s economic leadership, and with the hostility of media and academic commentators toward efforts to halt the slide. ESI works to define a new economic agenda by challenging old assumptions and developing an integrated, macro/micro economic strategy to realize the full potential of America’s rich material and human resources.
The Education Policy Institute is non-profit organization devoted to educational research, policy analysis, and training from a public choice and market oriented perspective.
Employee Benefit Research Institute
Established in 1978, the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) is the only nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to original public policy research and education on economic security and employee benefits. The Institute’s mission is to advance the public’s, the media’s and policymakers’ knowledge and understanding of employee benefits and their importance to our nation’s economy.
The Employment Policies Institute is a nonprofit research organization dedicated to studying entry-level employment issues such as the minimum wage, part-time workers, welfare to work and illiteracy.
Empower America was formed in 1993 to support basic principles of economic growth, spreading freedom and democracy world-wide, and restoring America’s cultural heritage.
Ethics and Public Policy Center
The Ethics and Public Policy Center was established in 1976 to clarify and reinforce the bond between the Judeo-Christian moral tradition and the public debate over domestic and foreign policy issues. Its program includes research, writing, publication, and conferences. The Center affirms the political relevance of the great Western ethical imperatives–respect for the dignity of every person, individual freedom and responsibility, justice, the rule of law, and limited government. It maintains that moral reasoning is an essential complement to empirical calculation in the shaping of public policy.
Foreign Policy Institute – Turkey
FPI was founded in 1974 as an independent research organization to study issues related with Turkish Foreign Policy. During the past twenty one years it has enlarged its activities to cover strategic and regional studies and international affairs.
The Fraser Institute was founded in 1974 to redirect public attention to the role markets can play in providing for the economic and social well-being of Canadians.
George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies
Founded on June 5, 1993, the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies is dedicated to stabilizing and thereby strengthening Post-Cold War Europe. Specifically, it aids defense and foreign ministries in Europe’s aspiring democracies to develop national security organizations and systems that reflect democratic principles.
The Heartland Institute, incorporated in 1984, sponsors and promotes sound research on the problems faced by state and local governments.
The Heritage Foundation was established in 1973 as a nonpartisan, tax-exempt policy research institute dedicated to the principles of free competitive enterprise, limited government, individual liberty and a strong national defense.
The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, founded in 1919, is a center for advanced study in domestic and international affairs.
Hudson Institute is a private, not-for-profit research organization founded in 1961. Hudson analyzes and makes recommendations about public policy for business and government executives and for the public at large. More than thirty years of work on the most important issues of the day has allowed Hudson to forge a viewpoint that embodies skepticism about the conventional wisdom, optimism about solving problems, a commitment to free institutions and individual responsibility, an appreciation of the crucial role of technology in achieving progress, and an abiding respect for the importance of values, culture, and religion in human affairs.
The Independence Institute is established upon the eternal truths of the Declaration of Independence. Founded in 1985, the Independence Institute is a non-partisan, non-profit public policy research organization dedicated to providing timely information to concerned citizens, government officials, and public opinion leaders.
Through this uncommon independence, depth, and clarity, the Independent Institute pushes at the frontiers of our knowledge, redefines the debate over public issues, and fosters new and effective directions for government reform.
Institute of Economic Affairs – United Kingdom
The Institute of Economic Affairs is a research and educational charity that was incorporated in 1955 and began publishing regularly in 1957. It specializes in studies of markets and pricing systems as technical devices for registering preferences and apportioning resources.
Institute for Fiscal Studies – United Kingdom
The Institute for Fiscal Studies is one of Europe’s pre-eminent centres of policy research. IFS aims to bridge the gap between policy-makers and academics: to bring academic rigour to policy discussion, and policy relevance to academic research. It has proved invaluable to civil servants, the Press and private companies in explaining policy issues.
Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis
Founded in 1976, the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis (IFPA), Inc., is an independent and nonpartisan research and strategic planning organization that specializes in issues of national security, foreign policy, political economics, and government-industrial relations. Building on thorough and innovative analysis, the Institute and its small-business subsidiary, National Security Planning Associates, Inc. (NSPA), provide a wide range of programs and services.
Institute for National Strategic Studies
The Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) was established in July 1984 as an interdisciplinary research institute staffed by senior civilian and military analysts from all four Services. The Director of INSS reports through the President of the National Defense University to the Secretary of Defense, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff, and to the Commanders-in-Chief of the Unified Commands. The Institute Director sets the research agenda of the Institute to meet the needs and requirements of the Department of Defense.
Institute for Policy Innovation
The Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy “think tank” based in Lewisville, Texas and founded in 1987 to research, develop and promote innovative and non-partisan solutions to today’s public policy problems.
Institute for Socioeconomic Studies
The Institute for Socioeconomic Studies is a non-profit operating foundation with broad research interests relating to the quality of life, social motivation, poverty, urban regeneration, and the problems of the elderly, primarily as they relate to domestic government policy. Since its founding in 1974 by Dr. Leonard M. Greene, the Institute has been exploring approaches to comprehensive welfare reform, work incentives, national health care financing, and related social policy issues.
Institute for Women’s Policy Research
The Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) is an independent, non-profit, 501(c)(3) certified, scientific research organization incorporated in the District of Columbia, established in 1987 to rectify the limited availability of policy relevant research on women’s lives and to inform and stimulate debate on issues of critical importance for women. Unlike most other research institutes, IWPR’s work places women’s experiences at the center of each analysis.
International Institute For Strategic Studies
The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), founded in 1958, is an independent centre for research, information and debate on the problems of conflict, however caused, that have, or potentially have, an important military content. Its work is grounded in an appreciation of the various political, economic and social problems that can lead to instability, as well as the factors that can lead to international cooperation.
The James Madison Institute is a Florida-based nonprofit research and educational organization chartered in 1987. The guiding philosophy of the Institute is based on a profound belief in such timeless ideals as economic freedom, limited government, federalism, traditional values, the rule of law, and individual liberty coupled with individual responsibility.
Japan Information Access Project
The Japan Information Access Project is a Washington, DC-based, independent, nonprofit research center to strengthen international understanding of Japanese science, technology, industry, security, and policy.
Japan Policy Research Institute
The Japan Policy Research Institute is a non-profit membership organization dedicated to the promotion of understanding of Japan’s political economic behavior and growing significance in world affairs.
The Levy Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, independently funded research organization devoted to public service. Through scholarship and economic forecasting it generates viable, effective public policy responses to important economic problems that profoundly affect the quality of life in the United States and abroad.
The Locke Institute was founded in 1989 as an independent, non-partisan educational and research organization. Named for the philosopher and political theorist John Locke (1632-1704), the Institute ascribes to his theory that society is based on natural law and that the individual is the ultimate source of political sovereignty. The Institute endorses Locke’s proposition that individuals are possessed of inalienable rights to life, liberty, and property.
The Massachusetts Institute for a New Economy
The Massachusetts Institute for a New Economy (MassINC) is an independent state-based think tank informing the public debate about the most critical economic and social issues affecting the health of Massachusetts and its working — and middle-class citizens. MassINC initiates a dialogue which will help us to pursue the American Dream in Massachusetts — a sustainable vision of life which restores our ability to invest in family, community, education, and the quality of our lives.
The Milken Institute’s mission is to explore and explain the dynamics of world economic structure, conduct, and performance by conducting research in economics, business, and finance. The objective is a better-informed public, more thoughtful public policies, improved economic outcomes, and better lives for people.
National Academy of Social Insurance
The National Academy of Social Insurance is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that promotes research and education concerning Social Security, Unemployment Insurance, Workers’ Compensation, the appropriate role of government in protecting individuals from the costs of personal health care services, and related public and private programs.
National Center for Policy Analysis
The National Center for Policy Analysis is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, tax-exempt public policy research institute which supports free enterprise, low taxes, limited government and a strong national defense.
National Center for Public Policy Research
The National Center for Public Policy Research, founded in 1982, is a tax-exempt conservative action foundation. It uses research, information dissemination and grassroots & coalition educational programs to develop and illustrate to the general public the conservative perspective on issue of national concern.
National Center on Education and the Economy
The National Center on Education and the Economy is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the development of a comprehensive US system of education, employment and training.
National Regulatory Research Institute
The National Regulatory Research Institute (NRRI) was established by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) at The Ohio State University in 1976 to provide research, educational services, and technical services to the state regulatory commissions. At the highest level of generalization, the goals of the NRRI are accomplished through research, education, and service. To the NRRI, this means respectively, (1) contributing to basic and applied research in the diverse fields of utility regulation, (2) providing educational and training experiences to the members of the regulatory community, and (3) offering technical assistance and expertise to the public service commissions. From this, it follows that the central objective of the NRRI is to help strengthen state public service commission regulation.
The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government
The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, the public policy research arm of the State University of New York, was established in 1982 to bring the resources of the 64-campus SUNY system to bear on public policy issues. The Institute is actively involved nationally in research and special projects on the role of state governments in American federalism and the management and finances of both state and local governments in major areas of domestic public affairs.
The Nuclear Energy Institute is the nuclear energy industry’s Washington-based policy organization.
The Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security is an independent, non-profit center created in 1987 to do research and policy analysis in the areas of environment, sustainable development, and international security. Underlying all of the Institute’s work is the recognition that the pressing problems of environmental degradation, regional and global poverty, and political tension and conflict are fundamentally interrelated, and that long-term solutions must consider these issues in an interdisciplinary manner. The Pacific Institute addresses the breadth and long-term nature of both problems and necessary solutions. The Institute strives to improve policy through sound research and consistent dialogue with action-oriented groups from the international to local level.
The Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy promotes the principles of individual freedom and personal responsibility. The Institute believes these principles are best encouraged through policies that emphasize a free economy, private initiative, and limited government. By focusing on public policy issues such as education, the environment, law, economics, and social welfare, the Institute strives to foster a better understanding of the principles of a free society among leaders in government, academia, the media, and the business community.
Political Economy Research Center
The Political Economy Research Center (PERC) is a market-oriented think tank focusing on environmental and natural resource issues. Its research and policy analysis covers endangered species, forestry, fisheries, parks, public lands, property rights, Superfund, water, and environmental education.
Progress and Freedom Foundation
The Progress and Freedom Foundation is a private, non-profit, non-partisan idea center organized to restore, to renew and to recreate America’s sense of its future, a future woven inextricably with the ideas of progress and freedom.
The Progressive Policy Institute is a center for policy innovation that develops alternatives to the exhausted debate between the Left and the Right. PPI advocates growth-oriented economic policies designed to stimulate broad upward mobility and foster a more inclusive, more democratic capitalism; social policies that move beyond maintaining the poor to liberating them from poverty and dependence; and a foreign policy of resolve in defending America’s interests and promoting democracy abroad.
Public Policy Institute of California
The Public Policy Institute of California is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to independent, nonpartisan research on economic, social, and political issues that affect the lives of Californians. The Institute was established in 1994 with an endowment from William R. Hewlett.
Public Service Research Foundation
The Public Service Research Foundation is a research and education organization studying the impact of unions in government on government. Since 1980 it has published a quarterly journal, the Government Union Review, which contains many excellent scholarly articles on this topic.
Rand is a private, nonprofit institution that helps improve public policy through research and analysis.
The Reason Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research and educational organization dedicated to advancing the principles of a free society.
Resources for the Future (RFF) is an independent, nonprofit research organization that aims to help people make better decisions about the conservation and use of their natural resources and the environment. As the world’s knowledge of the environment grows and competition for natural and financial resources becomes more intense, the need for policies based on information rather than inclination becomes increasingly crucial. RFF strives to provide accurate, objective information to policy makers, legislators, public opinion leaders, and environmentalists to help them responsibly meet the nation’s and the world’s long-term environmental and economic needs.
The Henry L. Stimson Center was founded in 1989 and is a non-profit, non-partisan institution that concentrates on particularly difficult national and international security and foreign policy issues where technology, policy, and politics intersect. We deal extensively with reducing and eliminating weapons of mass destruction, foreign policy issues and the conflict of U.S. involvement abroad, and confidence building measures in South-East Asia and China.
The Tax Foundation, commemorating its 60th anniversary in 1997, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy research organization that monitors fiscal issues at the federal, state, and local levels.
Since 1919, the Twentieth Century Fund, a nonpartisan foundation, has been at the forefront researching and writing about progressive public policy. It produces books, reports, and other publications and convene task forces of citizens and experts — all with an eye toward finding fresh approaches to the major issues of the day.
W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
The W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research was founded in 1945 to research and promote solutions to employment related problems. It is a not-for-profit, independent research institution with nine professional economists on staff. The Institute also sponsors a competitive grant program that funds original research, and publish monographs and working papers.
The Urban Institute is a private, nonprofit policy research and educational organization, established in 1968, to investigate the social and economic problems confronting the nation and government policies and programs designed to alleviate such problems.
The mission of the World Water Council is to promote awareness about critical water issues at all levels, including the highest decision-making level, and to facilitate the efficient protection, development, planning, management and use of global water on an environmentally sustainable basis for the benefit of all people.
Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars is the United States’ official memorial to Woodrow Wilson, president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. The Center aims, in a strictly nonpartisan fashion, to foster scholarship and promote the exchange of views between scholars and decision makers that was envisaged by Woodrow Wilson–a college teacher and university president, as well as a politician and international statesman.
