The Independent Institute is a libertarian
think tankA think tank is an organization, institute, corporation, or group that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economy, science or technology issues, industrial or business policies, or military advice...
based in
Oakland, CaliforniaOakland is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of California and a major West Coast port city, located on San Francisco Bay about eight miles east of the City of San Francisco. Oakland is a major hub city for the Bay Area subregion collectively called the East Bay, and it is the county seat...
. Founded in 1986 by
David J. Theroux
http://www.independent.org/aboutus/person_detail.asp?id=531, the Institute sponsors studies of major political, social, economic, legal, environmental and foreign policy issues. It has more than 140 research fellows. The Institute was originally established in San Francisco, and was re-located in 1989 to Oakland. In 2006 the Institute opened an office in Washington, D.C. Its symbol is a lighthouse, chosen because of its symbolism of how services commonly regarded as
public goodIn economics, a public good is a good that is non-rivalrous and non-excludable. This means, respectively, that consumption of the good by one individual does not reduce availability of the good for consumption by others; and that no one can be effectively excluded from using the good...
s can be privately owned and operated.
The Institute is organized into six centers
http://www.independent.org/aboutus which address the full range of public policy issues.
Publications
The results of the Institute's work are published as books and other publications
http://www.independent.org/publications and form the basis for numerous conferences
http://www.independent.org/events and media programs
http://www.independent.org/newsroom. Books
http://www.independent.org/publications/books/ are published by such publishers as
Oxford University PressOxford house Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. they are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as OUP's...
,
Cambridge University PressCambridge University Press is a printer and publisher granted a Royal Letters Patent by Henry VIII in 1534. It is the world's oldest continually operating book publisher...
, Farrar Straus & Giroux,
PalgravePalgrave is the English title of a Count Palatine of the Holy Roman Empire.- People :*John Palsgrave , English scholar*Sir Francis Palgrave , UK historian, and his sons:...
,
University of Michigan PressThe University of Michigan Press is a university press that is part of the University of Michigan. It was founded in 1930 as a publisher of books dedicated to imparting important scholarly research...
,
Stanford University PressThe Stanford University Press is the publishing house of Stanford University. In 1892, an independent publishing company was established at the university. The first use of the name "Stanford University Press" in a book's imprinting occurred in 1895...
, Ivan R. Dee,
New York University PressNew York University Press , founded in 1916, is a university press that is part of New York University....
,
University Press of KentuckyThe University Press of Kentucky is the scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and was organized in 1969 as successor to the University of Kentucky Press. The university had sponsored scholarly publication since 1943. In 1949 the press was established as a separate academic agency...
, etc.
In addition, the Institute publishes a quarterly journal,
The Independent ReviewSeveral magazines, journals, and newspapers have used this title, some of which are:*Independent Review , a now defunct progressive English journal founded, in part, by the historian G.M. Trevelyan in London. Edward Jenks was editor, and members of its editorial board included Trevelyan, G. Lowes...
, edited by the economist and historian,
Robert HiggsRobert Higgs is an American economist of the Austrian School and a libertarian anarchist. His writings in economics and economic history have most often focused on the causes, means, and effects of government growth....
.
Articles on the Independent Institute's findings are published in major newspapers, magazines and journals, and Institute fellows regularly appear on TV and radio programs in the U.S. and around the world. In addition, the Institute conducts numerous conference programs for scholars, business leaders, the media, policy makers and the general public. For example, the Institute's Independent Policy Forum
http://www.independent.org/events series of seminars has featured historians
Joyce ApplebyJoyce Oldham Appleby is Professor Emerita of History at UCLA. She served as president of the Organization of American Historians and the American Historical Association .Appleby received her bachelors degree from Stanford University and her Ph.D...
and
Robert ConquestGeorge Robert Ackworth Conquest is a British historian who became a well-known writer and researcher on the Soviet Union with the publication in 1968 of The Great Terror, an account of Stalin's purges of the 1930s.-Early career:...
; economists Roger Noll, Lord Peter Bauer and Nobel Laureates
Gary BeckerGary Stanley Becker is an American economist and a Nobel laureate. Born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, Becker earned a B.A. at Princeton University in 1951 and a Ph.D. at The University of Chicago in 1955...
and
James M. BuchananJames McGill Buchanan, Jr. is an American economist known for his work on public choice theory, for which he won the 1986 Nobel Prize in Economics. Buchanan's work initiated research on how politicians' self-interest and non-economic forces affect government economic policy.-Biography:Buchanan...
; legal scholars Robert Cooter,
Richard EpsteinRichard Allen Epstein is the James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law, the Faculty Director for Curriculum, and the Director, Law and Economics Program at the University of Chicago Law School. He is also an Adjunct Scholar at the Cato Institute, and the Peter and Kirsten Bedford...
,
David D. ColeDavid D. Cole is an American law professor at the Georgetown University Law Center. He has published in various legal fields including civil rights, criminal justice, constitutional law and law and literature...
, and
Randy BarnettRandy E. Barnett is a lawyer, a law professor at Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches constitutional law and contracts, and a legal theorist in the United States...
; foreign policy experts
Lawrence KorbLawrence J. Korb , is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and a Senior Adviser to the Center for Defense Information...
,
Daniel EllsbergDaniel Ellsberg is a former US military analyst employed by the RAND Corporation who precipitated a national political controversy in 1971 when he released the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret Pentagon study of US government decision-making about the Vietnam War, to The New York Times and other...
, George Shultz,
Michael ScheuerMichael F. Scheuer is a former CIA employee. In his 22-year career, he served as the Chief of the Bin Laden Issue Station , from 1996 to 1999, the Osama bin Laden tracking unit at the Counterterrorist Center. He then worked again as Special Advisor to the Chief of the bin Laden unit from September...
, and Gen. William Odom; criminologists
Gary KleckGary Kleck is a criminologist at Florida State University and is the nation's leading expert on the links between guns, violence and gun control laws...
, Frank Zimring and
James Q. WilsonJames Q. Wilson is an American academic political scientist and an authority on public administration. He is a professor and senior fellow at the Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy at Boston College....
; best-selling authors
Gore VidalGore Vidal is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter and political activist...
, P.J. O’Rourke,
George GilderGeorge F. Gilder is an American writer, techno-utopian intellectual, Republican Party activist, and co-founder of the Discovery Institute...
,
Shelby SteeleShelby Steele is an American author, columnist, documentary film maker, and a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, specialising in the study of race relations, multiculturalism and affirmative action....
, and
Michael CrichtonJohn Michael Crichton or Michael Crichton was an American author, producer, director, screenwriter, and medical school graduate, best known for his work in the science fiction, medical fiction, and thriller genres. His books have sold over 150 million copies worldwide, and many have been adapted...
; human rights leaders
Harry WuHarry Wu is an activist for human rights in the People's Republic of China. Now a resident and citizen of the United States, Wu spent 19 years in Chinese labor camps, for which he popularized the term laogai. In 1996 the Columbia Human Rights Law Review awarded Wu its second Award for Leadership...
, Nobel Prize Laureate
Desmond TutuDesmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African cleric and activist who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid. In 1984, Tutu became the second South African to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize...
, and Elena Bonner; scientists
Bruce AmesBruce Ames is a professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior scientist at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute...
,
John ChristyJohn R. Christy is a climate scientist whose chief interests are global climate change, satellite sensing of global climate, and paleoclimate. He is best known, jointly with Roy Spencer, for his version of the satellite temperature record....
, and Nobel Laureate Charles Townes; judges Vaughn Walker and James Gray; journalists
Alexander CockburnAlexander Claud Cockburn , born 6 June 1941, is an Irish-American political journalist. Cockburn was brought up in Ireland but has lived and worked in the United States since 1972. Together with Jeffrey St. Clair, he edits the political newsletter CounterPunch...
,
John StosselJohn F. Stossel is a consumer reporter, investigative journalist, author, libertarian columnist, and former co-anchor for the ABC News show 20/20. Stossel began his journalism career as a researcher for KGW-TV and later became a consumer reporter at WCBS-TV in New York City before joining ABC News...
, former
Wall Street Journal editor Robert L. Bartley, and
Bill KurtisBill Kurtis is a television journalist, producer, former CBS News anchor and current host of A&E crime and news documentary shows, including Investigative Reports, American Justice, and Cold Case Files...
; business leaders
David PackardDavid Packard was a co-founder of Hewlett-Packard , serving as president , CEO , and Chairman of the Board . He served as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense from 1969-1971 during the Nixon administration...
,
John TempletonSir John Templeton was an American-born British stock investor, businessman and philanthropist.-Biography :...
, Robert Galvin, William Bowes, Jr., and Walter Wriston; Nobel Laureate Czesław Miłosz; and many others.
Drawing upon its research and publications program in criminal justice, the Independent Institute has further organized a series of televised debates hosted by Harvard law professor and Emmy Award-winner, Arthur Miller. The program,
Stopping Violent Crime: New Directions for Reduction and Preventionhttp://www.independent.org/events/detail.asp?eventID=56, was distributed on PBS-TV and featured former U.S. Attorney General Richard Thornburgh, Federal Judge David Sentelle,
Police FoundationThe Police Foundation, of Washington, DC, is a non-profit foundation dedicated to helping the police be more effective in doing their job. It was founded on July 22, 1970 by the Ford Foundation, and has continued to receive its primary support from that foundation, although it now has a large...
President Hubert Williams, criminologist Marvin Wolfgang, civil libertarian writer
Wendy KaminerWendy Kaminer is a lawyer and writer. She has written several books on contemporary social issues, including A Fearful Freedom: Women's Flight From Equality, about the conflict between egalitarian and protectionist feminism; I'm Dysfunctional, You're Dysfunctional: The Recovery Movement and Other...
, and others.
In 2006, having launched its office in Washington, the Institute expanded its media program, including a weekly column by Senior Fellow
Álvaro Vargas LlosaÁlvaro Vargas Llosa is a writer and political commentator on international affairs with emphasis on Latin America.- Fame :In 2006, Alvaro Vargas Llosa was presented with the of the in Washington DC....
through the Washington Post Writers Group, attracting a weekly readership of more than 5 million worldwide. Mr. Vargas Llosa is Senior Fellow with the Institute's Center on Global Prosperity
http://www.independent.org/research/cogp, and the host of the 2009 4-part National Geographic documentary series on Latin America,
Consequences. In addition, to follow up on earlier Institute Open Letters on health care, high technology, and other issues, the Independent Institute released its
Open Letter on Immigrationhttp://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1727, signed by more than 500 economists, including five Nobel Laureates, and received endorsements in editorials in the
New York Times and
Wall Street Journal. The
Open Letter on Immigration was a project of the Center on Entrepreneurial Innovation
http://www.independent.org/research/coei.
The Institute also operates a special program for students
http://www.independent.org/students, including a competitive essay contest for college students that awards cash fellowships; Summer Seminars on Liberty, Economy and Society
http://www.independent.org/students/seminars for high school and college students; student internships
http://www.independent.org/students/internships; and tuition assistance for disadvantaged families to send their children to private schools (Independent Scholarship Fund
http://www.independent.org/students/isf/).
The Economy
The Institute has produced scholarly books and other studies on the unique value of free-market entrepreneurship on all aspects of economic issues, and in the process has pioneered work on regulation and deregulation, taxation, privatization, and community development. As a result, the Institute is renowned as a source of innovative, market-based solutions to problems in transportation, money and banking, housing, environment and energy, employment, insurance, welfare, tort liability, health care, crime, trade, agriculture, education, etc. In the process, the Institute has repeatedly shown that government interventions serve to cartelize markets at the behest of interest groups and to the detriment of the general public, especially the most disadvantaged.
War on Terror
In the immediate aftermath of 9/11 in 2001, the Independent Institute launched a program of critical analysis of the "War on Terror". The Institute argued that targeted defensive measures would succeed and that U.S. preemptive, interventionist war and "nation-building" policies would not. In so doing, the Institute has organized numerous events featuring
Gore VidalGore Vidal is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter and political activist...
,
Lewis LaphamLewis P. Lapham was an entrepreneur who made a fortune consolidating smaller business in the leather industry. He was also one of the founders of Texaco Oil Company. Lapham built Waveny House in New Canaan, Connecticut as a summer residence for his family to escape the heat of New York City...
,
Robert HiggsRobert Higgs is an American economist of the Austrian School and a libertarian anarchist. His writings in economics and economic history have most often focused on the causes, means, and effects of government growth....
, Representative
Ron PaulRonald Ernest Paul, M.D. is an American physician and Republican Congressman for the state of Texas. Paul is a member of the Liberty Caucus of Republican congressmen which aims to limit the size and scope of the federal government, and serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the Joint...
,
James BamfordJames Bamford is an American bestselling author and journalist who writes about United States intelligence agencies...
, Barton Bernstein, Thomas Gale Moore, Gareth Porter, Theresa Hitchens,
Mark DannerMark David Danner is a prominent American journalist, writer, and educator. He is a former staff writer for The New Yorker and frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books. Danner specializes in U.S. foreign affairs and has written extensively on Haiti, Central America, the former...
,
Joseph CirincioneJoseph Cirincione is the President of the Ploughshares Fund , a public grant-making foundation focused on nuclear weapons policy and conflict resolution. He was appointed to the presidency by the Ploughshares board of directors on March 5, 2008...
,
Christopher ScheerChristopher Scheer is the co-author, with Robert Scheer and Lakshmi Chaudhry, of The Five Biggest Lies Bush Told Us About Iraq published in 2003 in the U.S., England and Australia...
, and others. The Institute has consistently criticized the legacy of U.S. interventionism, corporate welfare, and abuse of civil liberties through its Center on Peace and Liberty
http://www.independent.org/research/copal/. For example, the Institute's book by Ivan Eland,
Partitioning for Peace proposes a decentralized, partition solution as a U.S. exit strategy from Iraq. In addition, its award-winning book,
Twilight War: The Folly of U.S. Space Dominance, by Mike Moore (former Editor,
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists) has critiqued the weaponization of space, defending peaceful commercial development.
http://www.independent.org/store/book_detail.asp?bookID=71
Environment
The Institute has completed numerous publications on the value of market-based environmentalism to resolve the
tragedy of the commonsThe tragedy of the commons refers to a dilemma described in an influential article by that name written by Garrett Hardin and first published in the journal Science in 1968...
, including forestlands, water systems, climate change, air quality, energy, endangered species, toxic hazards, agriculture, food, etc. Notable books include
Re-Thinking Green,
Plowshares & Pork Barrels,
A Poverty of Reason,
Cutting Green Tape,
Electric Choices, and
Hot Talk, Cold Science.
http://www.independent.org/issues/search.asp?subID=23
Awards
The Independent Institute is the recipient of numerous awards
http://www.independent.org/aboutus/awards.asp, including two Mencken Awards, seven Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Awards, the Benjamin Franklin Award from the Independent Book Publishers Association, two
IPPY AwardsThe Independent Publisher Book Awards , launched in 1996, are designed to bring increased recognition to titles published by independent authors and publishers...
from
Independent Publisher Magazine, and a 4M Highest Rating for Ethics in Social and Public Policy from the
Markkula Center for Applied EthicsThe Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University provides a nationally recognized academic forum for research and dialogue concerning all areas of applied ethics...
at
Santa Clara UniversitySanta Clara University is a private, co-educational Jesuit-affiliated university located in Santa Clara, California. Chartered by the state of California and accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, it operates in collaboration with the Society of Jesus , whose members founded...
.
Other awards have included those to Senior Fellow
Ivan ElandIvan Eland is an American defense analyst and author. He is currently a Senior Fellow and Director of the Center on Peace and Liberty at the Independent Institute. Eland's writings generally propose libertarian and anti-intervertionist policies....
http://www.independent.org/aboutus/person_detail.asp?id=487 who received the Medal of the Presidency of the Italian Republic in 2004, and Senior Fellow
Alvaro Vargas LlosaÁlvaro Vargas Llosa is a writer and political commentator on international affairs with emphasis on Latin America.- Fame :In 2006, Alvaro Vargas Llosa was presented with the of the in Washington DC....
http://www.independent.org/aboutus/person_detail.asp?id=494 who was awarded the Freedom of Expression Award
http://www.independent.org/issues/article.asp?id=1378 from the Organization of Ibero-American Journalists in 2003, 2006 Annual Juan Bautista Alberdi Award from the Hispanic American Center for Economic Research, and Young Global Leader for 2007 from the
World Economic ForumThe World Economic Forum is a Geneva-based non-profit foundation best known for its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland which brings together top business leaders, international political leaders, selected intellectuals and journalists to discuss the most pressing issues facing the world...
. Senior Fellow Bruce Benson
http://www.independent.org/aboutus/person_detail.asp?id=523 received the 2006 Adam Smith Award, Research Analyst Gabriel Gasave received the Freedom Award for Brave Defense of Liberty from the Fundacion Atlas, and Senior Fellow
Robert HiggsRobert Higgs is an American economist of the Austrian School and a libertarian anarchist. His writings in economics and economic history have most often focused on the causes, means, and effects of government growth....
http://www.independent.org/aboutus/person_detail.asp?id=489 received the 1998 Templeton Honor Rolls Award on Education in a Free Society, 2006 Friedrich von Wieser Memorial Prize for Excellence in Economic Education, 2006 Thomas S. Szasz Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Cause of Civil Liberties, 2006 Lysander Spooner Award for Advancing the Literature of Liberty, and 2007 Gary G. Schlarbaum Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Cause of Liberty.
In addition, the Institute's book by Robert Higgs,
Depression, War, and Cold War, was selected by
ChoiceChoice consists of the mental process of thinking involved with the process of judging the merits of multiple options and selecting one of them for action. Some simple examples include deciding whether to get up in the morning or go back to sleep, or selecting a given route for a journey...
Magazine as 2007 Outstanding Academic Book and by
SocietySociety or human society is the manner or condition in which the members of a community live together for their mutual benefit. By extension, society denotes the people of a region or country, sometimes even the world, taken as a whole....
Magazine as Social Science Book of the Month. The Institute's book edited by
Gabriel RothGabriel Fernando Roth is an Agentine footballer playing for Atlético Bucaramanga.-External links: * at Terra.com.ar...
,
Street Smart, was designated by Planetizen as “Top 10” Book for 2007 in Urban Planning, Design, and Development Community, and
Restoring Free Speech and Liberty on Campus, by Donald Downs, received the Peter Shaw Memorial Award for 2006.
Funding
On its website the Institute states that it "receives no government funding. Instead, it draws its support from a diverse range of foundations, businesses and individuals, and the sale of its publications and other services."
http://www.independent.org/aboutus/ The Independent Institute does not publish a list of its donors in keeping with its subscribing to the Donor’s Bill of Rights.
http://www.independent.org/membership/donorsbill.asp
In describing the Independent Institute's program, the
Wall Street Journal has stated that, “They win support precisely because they are not for sale.” And the Institute is acclaimed by leading figures from across the political spectrum in academia, government, business, and the media.
http://www.independent.org/aboutus/saying.asp
External links