The Hall Institute for Public Policy - New Jersey is a nonpartisan

Nonpartisan

In political science, nonpartisan denotes an election, event, organization or person in which there is no formally declared association with a political party affiliation....

, non-profit

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 think tank

Think tank

A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...

 that focuses on public policy

Public policy (law)

In private international law, the public policy doctrine or ordre public concerns the body of principles that underpin the operation of legal systems in each state. This addresses the social, moral and economic values that tie a society together: values that vary in different cultures and change...

 issues in New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

. The institute was founded in 2005 by George E. Hall, a finance executive and philanthropist

Philanthropist

A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...

. Hall hired Michael P. Riccards

Michael P. Riccards

Michael P. Riccards is an American political scientist, writer, and professor. Riccards has been the president of three American colleges and has written extensively on public policy, the American political process, and the history of the American presidency. His book The Ferocious Engine of...

, a former college president, as executive director, and Richard A. Lee, former Deputy Communications Director to New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey, as Director of Communications. Since its inception, the institute has posted more than 400 papers on its website, conducted public forums, and published two books.

Public policy

Opinion articles from the Hall Institute have appeared in several newspapers on the East Coast , including the New York Times.

In 2006 and 2008, the Hall Institute used a mediated online debate format, what it calls a "virtual debate", as a way of presenting the views of New Jersey U.S. Senate candidates without the partisan sparring and the neglect of the issues that has been characteristic of live face-to-face debates in New Jersey and elsewhere.

The institute's public forums have focused on New Jersey's role in the 2008 presidential campaign

United States presidential election, 2008

The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...

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In partnership with Mercer County Community College

Mercer County Community College

Mercer County Community College is an accredited, co-educational, two-year, public, community college located in Mercer County, New Jersey. The school's current president is Dr. Patricia C. Donohue...

, the institute produced one season of public affairs television in 2008 which aired on MCTV 26

MCTV 26

Mercer County Television channel 26 is a Educational-access television station in West Windsor, New Jersey, USA, owned and operated by Mercer County Community College . The Student television station is transmitted to all of Mercer County, New Jersey, via cable TV channel 26 on the Comcast,...

 in Mercer County, New Jersey

Mercer County, New Jersey

As of the census of 2000, there were 350,761 people, 125,807 households, and 86,303 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,552 people per square mile . There were 133,280 housing units at an average density of 590 per square mile...

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In 2006, the institute published a hardbound journal, The State of the Garden State, and in 2007, another journal titled Reaction and Reform in New Jersey. Both were compilations of major papers that the institute had solicited and commissioned from scholars on topics ranging from New Jersey health care reform

Health care reform

Health care reform is a general rubric used for discussing major health policy creation or changes—for the most part, governmental policy that affects health care delivery in a given place...

 to lowering the levels of poverty

Poverty

Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...

 in the state's urban areas

Urban area

An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...

. The institute posted a third volume online in 2008, Creating a Common Future: New Jersey and Public Policy.