Federalist Society (Washington, DC)
The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies is a group of conservatives and libertarians interested in the current state of the legal order. It is founded on the principles that the state exists to preserve freedom, that the separation of governmental powers is central to our Constitution, and that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be. The Society seeks both to promote an awareness of these principles and to further their application through its activities.
Cato Institute (Washington, DC)
The mission of the Cato Institute is to originate, disseminate, and increase understanding of public policies based on the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace. Our vision is to create free, open, and civil societies founded on libertarian principles.
Bill of Rights Institute (Arlington, VA)
The Bill of Rights Institute engages, educates, and empowers individuals with a passion for the freedom and opportunity that exist in a free society.
Ashbrook Center (Ashland, OH)
The Ashbrook Center, an independent center at Ashland University, restores and strengthens the capacities of the American people for constitutional self-government.
1851 Center for Constitutional Law (Columbus, OH)
We founded 1851 to actively defend Ohioans’ right to do anything peaceful. We believe dignity, choice, respect, and freedom are moral imperatives, central to human flourishing. And we can all see how the heavy-handed control of others hampers imperatives and this flourishing. Yet each day throughout our state, government officials treat Ohioans like children, micro-manage their choices, pilfer their hard-earned wealth and property, and auction off their freedom to the highest bidder. To defend against these threats, and to level a highly unbalanced playing field, we represent those who aren’t represented by a special interest group. In essence, we are a special interest group against all of the “special interests” who wish to control Ohioans’ time, money, property, and lives.We represent those who simply wish to be left alone to order their lives, families, finances, businesses, and time in an entirely peaceful manner.Accordingly we represent the average Ohio taxpayer, parent, homeowner, and entrepreneur, when they find themselves threatened with loss of their homes and businesses, and threatened with fines and jail time for peaceful acts such as the sale or lease of a home, posting of a protest sign, the gathering of signatures, the refusal to pay a tax or fee, or the refusal to abide by an arbitrary government mandate. Our clients are those with the dignity to refrain from living as a parasite. And those with the resolve to recognize when their government is treating them as the equivalent of a milk-cow, rather than a coequal.Before we founded the 1851 Center, the legal system had entirely failed these people.Ohio has no shortage of lawyers. Yet these lawyers cater to the wealthy. They have conflicts of interest because instead of fighting government, they all want to represent government, or perhaps even be part of it someday. When they become aware of an illegal $70 tax or fee, they want a $10,000 retainer. Meanwhile, those who have traditionally offered pro bono services in Ohio do so to shred the fundamental tenets of human freedom rather than to protect them.To correct this market failure, we have created a public interest law firm that cannot be bought. One that allows the average Ohioan to stand on equal footing with well-funded and well-connected bullies, without ever having to pay a legal bill.From Portsmouth to Cleveland and Youngstown to Cincinnati, and without regard politics, we speak for those without an effective means to speak for themselves. And we give outsiders a fighting chance to protect what is rightfully their own.
Virginia Institute for Public Policy (Abingdon, VA)
The Virginia Institute for Public Policy is an independent, nonpartisan, education and research organization committed to the goals of individual opportunity and economic growth. Through research, policy recommendations, and symposia, the Institute works ahead of the political process to lay the intellectual foundation for a society dedicated to individual liberty, dynamic entrepreneurial capitalism, private property, the rule of law, and constitutionally limited government.
Kansas Policy Institute (Wichita, KS)
Kansas Policy Institute is an independent think tank guided by the constitutional principles of limited government and personal freedom. The Institute specializes in student-focused education and tax and fiscal policy at the state and local level. It empowers citizens, legislators, and other government officials with objective research and creative ideas to promote a low-tax, pro-growth environment that preserves the ability of governments to provide high quality services.
Independence Institute (Denver, CO)
The mission of the Independence Institute is to empower individuals and to educate citizens, legislators and opinion makers about public policies that enhance personal and economic freedom.
Goldwater Institute (Phoenix, AZ)
With the blessing of its namesake, the Goldwater Institute opened in 1988. Its early years focused on defending liberty in Barry Goldwater’s home state of Arizona. Today, the Goldwater Institute is a national leader for constitutionally limited government respected by the left and right for its adherence to principle and real world impact. No less a liberal icon than the New York Times calls the Goldwater Institute a “watchdog for conservative ideals” that plays an “outsized role” in American political life.
Goldwater Institute (Phoenix, AZ)
With the blessing of its namesake, the Goldwater Institute opened in 1988. Its early years focused on defending liberty in Barry Goldwater’s home state of Arizona. Today, the Goldwater Institute is a national leader for constitutionally limited government respected by the left and right for its adherence to principle and real world impact. No less a liberal icon than the New York Times calls the Goldwater Institute a “watchdog for conservative ideals” that plays an “outsized role” in American political life.
