Independent Institute
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Independent Institute is a libertarian think tank based in Oakland, California. Founded in 1986 by David J. Theroux [1], 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.
The Institute is organized into six centers[2] which address the full range of public policy issues.
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[edit] Publications
The results of the Institute's work are published as books and other publications [3] and form the basis for numerous conferences [4] and media programs [5].Books [6] are published by such publishers as Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Farrar Straus & Giroux, Palgrave, University of Michigan Press, New York University Press, etc.
In addition, the Institute publishes a quarterly journal, Independent Review, edited by the economist and historian, Robert Higgs.
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[7] series of seminars has featured historians Joyce Appleby and Robert Conquest; economists Roger Noll, Lord Peter Bauer and Nobel Laureates Gary Becker and James M. Buchanan; legal scholars Robert Cooter, Richard Epstein, David D. Cole, and Randy Barnett; foreign policy experts Lawrence Korb, Daniel Ellsberg, George Shultz, Michael Scheuer, and Gen. William Odom; criminologists Gary Kleck, Frank Zimring and James Q. Wilson; best-selling authors Gore Vidal, P.J. O’Rourke, George Gilder, Shelby Steele, and Michael Crichton; human rights leaders Harry Wu and Elena Bonner; scientists Bruce Ames, John Christy, and Nobel Laureate Charles Townes; judges Vaughn Walker and James Gray; journalists Alexander Cockburn, John Stossel, former Wall Street Journal editor Robert L. Bartley, and Bill Kurtis; business leaders David Packard, John Templeton, Robert Galvin, and Walter Wriston; Nobel Laureate Czeslaw Milosz; 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 Prevention[8], was distributed on PBS-TV and featured former U.S. Attorney General Richard Thornburgh, Federal Judge David Sentelle, Police Foundation President Hubert Williams, criminologist Marvin Wolfgang, civil libertarian writer Wendy Kaminer, and others.
In 2006, having launched its office in Washington, the Institute expanded its media program, including a weekly column by Senior Fellow Alvaro Vargas Llosa through the Washington Post Writers Group, attracting a weekly readership of more than 5 million worldwide. (Mr. Vargas Llosa directs the Institute's Center on Global Prosperity[9].) 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 Immigration[10], 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[11], which is directed by Research Fellow Benjamin Powell [12].
The Institute also operates a special program for students[13], including a competitive essay contest for college students that awards cash fellowships; Sumer Seminars on Liberty, Economy and Society[14] for high school and college students; student internships[15]; and tuition assistance for disadvantaged families to send their children to private schools (Independent Scholarship Fund[16]).
[edit] Policy positions
[edit] 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 organized a series of events featuring Gore Vidal, Lewis Lapham, Congressman Ron Paul, James Bamford, Thomas Gale Moore, and others. The Institute criticised the legacy of U.S. interventionism through its Center on Peace and Liberty [17]. In so doing, in The Way Out of Iraq[18], the Institute was the first to call for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq and a partitioning of the country into three regions based on religious and ethnic criteria.
[edit] Global warming
The Institute is a member organization of the Cooler Heads Coalition which asserts that the theory of global warming is a myth.
[edit] Praise
The Institute has been praised [19] by a wide range of scholars, writers, and government officials for its integrity and quality. In a lead editorial, the Wall Street Journal claimed that, "They win support precisely because they are not for sale."
In a 1990 feature article, Success Magazine termed the Independent Institute “The Empire of Liberty,” acclaiming its uniquely entrepreneurial approach to policy research and education in producing an effective audience of more than 70 million, as compared to the 5,000-10,000 audience of traditional Washington policy organizations with annual budgets averaging from $10-30 million.
[edit] Awards
the Independent Institute is the recipient of numerous awards[20], including two Mencken Awards, six Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Awards, and a 4M Highest Rating for Ethics in Social and Public Policy from the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. Of 222 leading U.S. policy organizations regularly examined by Charity Navigator[21], the premier evaluator of public charities, the Independent Institute ranks in the top 10% with a highest 4-Star Rating, above virtually all other think tanks. Other awards have included those to Senior Fellow Ivan Eland[22] who received the Medal of the Presidency of the Italian Republic in 2004 and Senior Fellow Alvaro Vargas Llosa[23] who was awarded the Freedom of Expression Award [[24] from the Organization of Ibero-American Journalists in 2003. Senior Fellow Bruce Benson[25] received the 2006 Adam Smith Award, and Senior Fellow Robert Higgs[26] received the 1998 Templeton Honor Rolls Award on Education in a Free Society and the 2006 Friedrich von Wieser Memorial Prize for Excellence in Economic Education.
[edit] 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." [27] The Institute does not list its contributors on its website.
However, some funders of the Institute have been identified. These include:
- Philip Morris contributed a donation of $10,000 in 1997 [28] and a donation of $25,000 in 1998. [29]
- Exxon donated $10,000 in 1998 [30]; $5,000 in 2000 and 2001, $10,000 as Exxon Mobil in 2002 [31]; $10,000 in 2003 and $30,000 in 2005. [32]
- The San Francisco Foundation contributed $10,000 in fiscal year 2000 (July 1, 1999-June 30, 2000) ([33])
According to Media Transparency, TII has received $718,000 (unadjusted for inflation) between 1995 and 2005. [34] Grants have included those from:
- The John M. Olin Foundation gave in 1996 to The Independent Institute $40,000 for "The promotion of two books: The Diversity Myth, by David O. Sacks and Peter a Thiel; and The Melting Pot, by Richard K. Vedder and Lowell E. Gallaway" and in 1998 another $25,000 for "The Institute's book program".
- The David H. Koch Charitable Foundation gave in 1995 - 2001 in total $160,000 for "General Operating Support".
- The Earhart Foundation gave in 1998 - 2001 in total $46,095 to support editor Dr. Robert Higgs.
- The Castle Rock Foundation gave in 2002 for "General operating support" $25,000.
(Information derived from Sourcewatch).
