Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs is a conservative

American conservatism

Conservatism in the United States has played an important role in American politics since the 1950s. Historian Gregory Schneider identifies several constants in American conservatism: respect for tradition, support of republicanism, preservation of "the rule of law and the Christian religion", and...

academic center at Ashland University

Ashland University

Ashland University is a mid-sized, private, non-profit university that is located in Ashland, Ohio.The University offers 73 undergraduate majors and nine pre-professional programs. The majors include toxicology/environmental science and entrepreneurship, which are unusual for an institution of its...

in Ashland

Ashland, Ohio

Ashland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Ashland County. The population was 21,249 at the 2000 census. It is the center of the Ashland Micropolitan Statistical Area...

, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, dedicated by Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

on May 9, 1983.

It is named for the late Congressman John M. Ashbrook

John M. Ashbrook

John Milan Ashbrook was an American politician of the Republican Party who served in the United States House of Representatives from Ohio from 1961 until his death. His father was William A. Ashbrook, a newspaper editor, businessman, and U.S...

, an Ohio Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

best known for having run a largely symbolic campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in 1972, against the incumbent Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

, to protest what some saw as Nixon's failure to live up to conservative principles such as constitutionally limited government

Limited government

Limited government is a government which anything more than minimal governmental intervention in personal liberties and the economy is generally disallowed by law, usually in a written constitution. It is written in the United States Constitution in Article 1, Section 8...

, reducing federal spending, and uncompromising anti-communism

Anti-communism

Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...

. The Center was founded to honor him following his death in 1982 while campaigning for the U.S. Senate against Howard Metzenbaum

Howard Metzenbaum

Howard Morton Metzenbaum was an American politician who served for almost 20 years as a Democratic member of the U.S. Senate from Ohio . He also served in the Ohio House of Representatives and Senate from 1943 to 1951.-Early life:Metzenbaum was born in Cleveland, to a poor Jewish family, the son...

.

One emphasis of the Center is on promoting the study of American history, government

Federal government of the United States

The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...

, politics

Politics of the United States

The United States is a federal constitutional republic, in which the President of the United States , Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments.The executive branch is headed by the President...

, and constitutional interpretation for young people

Youth

Youth is the time of life between childhood and adulthood . Definitions of the specific age range that constitutes youth vary. An individual's actual maturity may not correspond to their chronological age, as immature individuals could exist at all ages.-Usage:Around the world, the terms "youth",...

, teacher

Teacher

A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...

s, and academic scholars.

In pursuit of this goal, The Ashbrook Center established an Ashbrook Scholars program, which provides scholarships to students at Ashland University

Ashland University

who are interested in pursuing a classical liberal arts curriculum. Students who are Ashbrook scholars experience academic seminars where they interact with noted figures in the conservative movement, e.g. Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...

, Henry Kissinger

Henry Kissinger

Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...

, among others.

The Center's first Director was F. Clifton White

F. Clifton White

Frederick Clifton White was a U.S. political consultant and campaign manager for candidates of the Republican Party and the New York Conservative Party, as well as foreign clients...

, a well-known Republican

Republican Party (United States)

political strategist and a key member of the Draft Goldwater movement in 1964. White was forced to step down from the position in 1992 for health reasons and was replaced by local businessman Charles E. Parton. Parton was also forced to leave the post for health reasons in 1997. His successor, Peter W. Schramm

Peter W. Schramm

Peter W. Schramm is an American academic. He is a Professor of Political Science at Ashland University and the Executive Director of the Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs in Ashland, Ohio.-Early life:...

, a professor of political science at Ashland University

Ashland University

and a former member of the Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

administration, has served as Executive Director since that time and has been central to the Center's expansion from being primarily a scholarship program and lecture series to its many programs that now include a Masters program in American History and Government and numerous academic seminars annually for middle and high school teachers.

No Left Turns blog

The center publishes a blog entitled No Left Turns. The site is administrated by Dr. Peter W. Schramm

Peter W. Schramm

, Executive Director of the Ashbrook Center, who also provides regular commentary. The blog's name is borrowed from the slogan of John Ashbrook's 1972 Presidential Primary bid against Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon

, which championed conservative principles such as limited government, reduced federal spending and anti-communism.

In accordance with its collegiate and political

Politics of the United States

roots, No Left Turns provides daily commentary from a conservative

Conservatism

Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...

and academic perspective. While each writer lends a specific areas of expertise to the blog, the principles of the American founding remain at the core of its mission to refine and enlarge the sphere of sound political thinking.

No Left Turns, an internet-based resource within the conservative movement, is cited by a wide range of nationally recognized conservative groups. For example, Power Line

Power Line

Power Line is an American political blog, providing news and commentary from a conservative point-of-view. It was originally written by three lawyers who attended Dartmouth College together: John H. Hinderaker, Scott W. Johnson, and Paul Mirengoff...

(crowned Time's Blog of the Year) lists No Left Turns among its short-list of favorite blogs, National Review Online regularly provides cross-links with the site, and Family Research Council

Family Research Council

The Family Research Council is a conservative or right-wing Christian group and lobbying organization formed in the United States in 1981 by James Dobson. It was fully incorporated in 1983...

routinely features articles from No Left Turns in its monthly Social Conservative Review.

Student publications

Res Publica
Each semester, the Ashbrook Scholars may submit essays for consideration for the Taylor Excellence in Writing Award. The selection criteria for the Taylor Award are quality of thought, logic of argument, felicity of style, and mastery of grammar and diction. The authors of the selected essays each receive the Taylor Excellence in Writing Award with its cash award of $100–$400 for each essay. Each summer, the winning essays from the previous fall and spring semesters are published in Res Publica.

Statesmanship Theses
All graduating Ashbrook Scholars are required to write a Statesmanship Thesis during their final year as a Scholar. The best of these theses are given the Charles Parton Award, named in honor of the former director of the Ashbrook Center who inspired the creation of the Statesmanship Thesis program.

Faculty Publications

External links

Official site
TeachingAmericanHistory.org, an Ashbrook Center resource for history teachers
Master of American History and Government, a summer Masters program for history and government teachers administered by the Ashbrook Center
NoLeftTurns: The Ashbrook Center Blog
No Left Turns

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.