The John Locke Foundation is a free-market think tank in North Carolina started in 1990. Its mission statement says the "John Locke Foundation employs research, journalism, and outreach programs to transform government through competition, innovation, personal freedom, and personal responsibility. JLF seeks a better balance between the public sector and private institutions of family, faith, community, and enterprise."[1] The organization advocates lowering taxes, decreasing spending on social welfare programs, and encouraging free markets. John Hood is its current president.
It is named after the philosopher John Locke, who was a primary contributor to what we understand as the idea of classical liberalism.
The Foundation is concerned primarily with state and local issues. The John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy was in its initial stages a project of the John Locke Foundation. A co-founder is Art Pope, and his family foundation provides most of the support for the center.[2]
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The John Locke Foundation's research staff regularly publishes scholarly articles and reports on topics such as budget and tax policy; regulatory, legal, and environmental policy; education policy; and county and local government, including transportation and land-use policies. Those reports are available for review online. [3]
Every two years, the John Locke Foundation produces an agenda document that focuses on key issues North Carolina state and local governments must address. The latest version of that document is Agenda 2010.[4]
Started in 1991, Carolina Journal is a monthly John Locke Foundation publication. "With a statewide readership of nearly 130,000 — through mail circulation, boxes, and partnerships with local newspapers in Greensboro, Asheville, and Hendersonville — Carolina Journal covers state government and the legislature while also offering special sections on education, books and culture, higher education, and local government," according to the JLF website.[5]
In addition to the print publication, CarolinaJournal.com provides news stories and commentary each weekday.[6] Carolina Journal Radio offers a weekly hourlong news and public affairs program.[7] CarolinaJournal.tv features video clips with interviews of John Locke Foundation staff, highlights from JLF events, JLF appearances on broadcast and cable television programs, and full-length videos of press conferences, presentations, and public meetings.[8]