American Bar Association
With more than 400,000 members, the ABA provides law school accreditation, continuing legal education, information about the law, programs to assist lawyers and judges in their work, and initiatives to improve the legal system for the public.
American Civil Liberties Union
works to protect the respect for civil liberties like First Amendment rights - freedom of speech, association and assembly; freedom of the press, and freedom of religion; right to equal protection under the law - equal treatment regardless of race, sex, religion or national origin; right to due process - fair treatment by the government whenever the loss of your liberty or property is at stake; right to privacy - freedom from unwarranted government intrusion into your personal and private affairs.
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI)
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a private, nonpartisan, not-for-profit institution dedicated to research and education on issues of government, politics, economics, and social welfare.
American Foreign Policy Council (AFPC)
Founded in 1982, AFPC is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing information to those who make or influence the foreign policy of the United States and to assisting world leaders, particularly in the former USSR, with building democracies and market economies.
Amnesty International USA
Amnesty International is the world’s oldest and largest membership organization that monitors and acts to end global human rights abuses. Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) is the largest national section of Amnesty International, marshalling more than 330,000 members and 1,599 local groups taking action and speaking together to prevent abuse and bring to justice those responsible.
Asia/Pacific Research Center (A/PARC)
The Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) is a unique Stanford University institution focused on the interdisciplinary study of contemporary Asia.
Asia Society
The Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) is a unique Stanford University institution focused on the interdisciplinary study of contemporary Asia.
The Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute, founded in 1950, is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering enlightened leadership and open-minded dialogue. Through seminars, policy programs, conferences and leadership development initiatives, the Institute and its international partners seek to promote nonpartisan inquiry and an appreciation for timeless values.
Atlantic Council of the United States (ACUS)
The Atlantic Council of the United States promotes constructive U.S. leadership and engagement in international affairs based on the central role of the Atlantic community in meeting the international challenges of the 21st century.
Atlas Economic Research Foundation
Atlas believes that their vision of a free society can be achieved through respect for private property rights, limited government under the rule of law, and the market order.
Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy (BRIE)
The Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy (BRIE) is an interdisciplinary research project that focuses on international economic competition and the development and application of advanced technologies. Founded by a group of faculty at the University of California, Berkeley in 1982, BRIE research concentrates on the different ways industrialized economies create competitive advantage and how these differences affect international economic and political relations.
The Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, DC. Their mission is to conduct high-quality, independent research and, based on that research, to provide innovative, practical recommendations that advance three broad goals: Strengthen American democracy; Foster the economic and social welfare, security and opportunity of all Americans and Secure a more open, safe, prosperous and cooperative international system.
Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs (CCEIA)
The Carnegie Council promotes ethical leadership on issues of war, peace, religion in politics, and global social justice.
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP)
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing cooperation between nations and promoting active international engagement by the United States. Founded in 1910, its work is nonpartisan and dedicated to achieving practical results.
The Carter Center
The Carter Center, in partnership with Emory University, is committed to advancing human rights and alleviating unnecessary human suffering. Founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, the Atlanta-based Center has helped to improve the quality of life for people in more than 70 countries.
Cato Institute
The Cato Institute was founded in 1977 by Edward H. Crane. It is a non-profit public policy research foundation headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Institute is named for Cato's Letters, a series of libertarian pamphlets that helped lay the philosophical foundation for the American Revolution. The Cato Institute seeks to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets and peace.
Center for Defense Information (CDI)
The Center for Defense Information (CDI) provides expert analysis on various components of U.S. national security, international security and defense policy. CDI promotes wide-ranging discussion and debate on security issues such as nuclear weapons, space security, missile defense, small arms and military transformation.
Center for Democracy and Technology
The Center for Democracy and Technology works to promote democratic values and constitutional liberties in the digital age. With expertise in law, technology, and policy, CDT seeks practical solutions to enhance free expression and privacy in global communications technologies. CDT is dedicated to building consensus among all parties interested in the future of the Internet and other new communications media.
Center for Economic and Policy Research
The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) was established in 1999 to promote democratic debate on the most important economic and social issues that affect people's lives.
Center for International Policy (CIP)
The Center promotes a U.S. foreign policy based on international cooperation, demilitarization and respect for basic human rights. The Center for International Policy was founded in 1975, in the wake of the Vietnam War, by former diplomats and peace activists.
Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE)
The Center for International Private Enterprise is a non-profit affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and one of the four core institutes of the National Endowment for Democracy. CIPE has supported more than 1,000 local initiatives in over 100 developing countries, involving the private sector in policy advocacy and institutional reform, improving governance, and building understanding of market-based democratic systems. CIPE provides management assistance, practical experience, and financial support to local organizations to strengthen their capacity to implement democratic and economic reforms. CIPE programs are also supported through the United States Agency for International Development.
Center for International Security and Strategic Studies, Mississippi State University (CISS)
Founded by Dr. János Radványi, Professor of History, in 1981, the Center for International Security and Strategic Studies (CISS) at Mississippi State University (MSU) is the only university-based research institute in the Southeastern Region between Atlanta and Austin working on specific international security studies.
Center for International Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (CIS)
The Center for International Studies (CIS) aims to support and promote international research and education at MIT. They capitalize on MIT's great strengths in science and engineering, examining the international aspects of these fields as they relate to both policy and practice, and focusing on those issues where science and engineering intersect most closely with foreign affairs. CIS includes 160 members of the MIT faculty and staff, mainly drawn from the departments of political science and urban studies, and visiting scholars from around the world.
Center for National Policy (CNP)
The Center for National Policy, celebrating a quarter century of expertise in Washington, directly engages Capitol Hill and the executive branch on the nation’s most important national security issues.
Center for Public Policy and Contemporary Issues-Institute for Public Policy Studies, University of Denver (CPPCI)
The Institute for Public Policy Studies at the University of Denver is committed to the development of tomorrow's policy leaders through an innovative, analytical core curriculum that emphasizes cost-effective, market-based alternatives to contemporary issues.
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) provides strategic insights and policy solutions to decisionmakers in government, international institutions, the private sector, and civil society. A bipartisan, nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, DC, CSIS conducts research and analysis and develops policy initiatives that look into the future and anticipate change.
The Century Foundation [formerly the Twentieth Century Fund] (TCF)
The Century Foundation, founded in 1919 by the progressive businessman Edward A. Filene, is a nonprofit public policy research institution committed to the belief that a mix of effective government, open democracy, and free markets is the most effective solution to the major challenges facing the United States.
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs (CCFR)
The Chicago Council’s Corporate Program helps Chicago business leaders compete in a fast-changing global economy. Benefits are tailored exclusively for companies that recognize the importance of operating effectively around the world.
Committee for Economic Development (CED)
The Committee for Economic Development (CED) is an independent, nonpartisan organization of business and education leaders dedicated to policy research on the major economic and social issues of our time and the implementation of its recommendations by the public and private sectors.
Commonwealth Institute
The Commonwealth Institute is an independent, nongovernmental public policy research center located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. The Institute is an operating program of the Commonwealth Foundation, an unendowed nonprofit corporation registered in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, USA.
Council for Excellence in Government
The nonpartisan, nonprofit Council has achieved the status of a creative, looked-to leader in its field. Pursuing its mission to improve the performance of government and the connections between government and citizens, it focuses its strategic priorities in four areas--to attract and develop the best and brightest for public service; encourage innovation and results-oriented government performance; engage citizens in government; and promote electronic government as a resource to achieve all of these goals. The Council’s 700 members, or Principals, are business, education and nonprofit leaders who have served in government.
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher dedicated to being a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and students, civic and religious leaders, and other interested citizens in order to help them better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries.
The Development Group for Alternative Policies (D'GAP)
The Development Group for Alternative Policies was founded in 1976 to assist in the promotion of economic justice across the South, or Third World, by helping to maximize control by poor communities and sectors over their own development in the face of impositions from the North. It was established on the principle of the right to self-determination and on the belief that local knowledge is indispensable to the shaping of sound development policies, programs and projects relevant to local needs and conditions.
Demos: A Network for Ideas & Action
Demos is a non-partisan public policy research and advocacy organization. Headquartered in New York City, Demos works with advocates and policymakers around the country in pursuit of four overarching goals: a more equitable economy; a vibrant and inclusive democracy; an empowered public sector that works for the common good; and responsible U.S. engagement in an interdependent world.
Discovery Institute
Discovery Institute's mission is to make a positive vision of the future practical. The Institute discovers and promotes ideas in the common sense tradition of representative government, the free market and individual liberty.
Earth Policy Institute
The Earth Policy Institute was founded May 2001 by Lester Brown and Reah Janise Kauffman to provide a vision of a sustainable future and a plan for how to get from here to there.
East-West Center (EWC)
The East-West Center is an education and research organization established by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to strengthen relations and understanding among the peoples and nations of Asia, the Pacific, and the United States. The Center contributes to a peaceful, prosperous, and just Asia Pacific community by serving as a vigorous hub for cooperative research, education, and dialogue on critical issues of common concern to the Asia Pacific region and the United States.
EastWest Institute [formerly Institute for EastWest Studies (IEWS)] (EWI)
Economic Policy Institute (EPI)
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.
Economic Strategy Institute (ESI)
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.
Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)
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.
Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC)
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.
The Heritage Foundation
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.
Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford University
The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, founded in 1919, is a center for advanced study in domestic and international affairs.
Hudson Institute, Inc.
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 Independent Institute
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.
The Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis, Inc. (IFPA)
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.
International Research Center for Energy and Economic Development (ICEED)
Japan Policy Research Institute (JPRI)
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.
Milken Institute
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 Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA)
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.
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.
Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy (PRI)
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.
The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University
Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies
Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC)
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.
RAND Corporation (RAND)
Rand is a private, nonprofit institution that helps improve public policy through research and analysis.
Reason Foundation
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)
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.
Southwest Center for Environmental Research and Policy (SCERP)
Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University (WCFIA)
Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government & Public Policy
Winrock International Institute for Agricultural Development
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS)
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.
Worldwatch Institute
More Think Tank Links from all over the world is at: Foreign Policy Research Institute
Last updated on May 30, 2008.
The Role of Think Tanks in U.S. Foreign Policy
This
issue of the electronic journal U.S. Foreign Policy Agenda examines the
unique role played by public policy research organizations, or "think
tanks," in the formulation of U.S. policy.
