Manhattan Institute
Encyclopedia
The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research (renamed in 1981 from the International Center for Economic Policy Studies) is a conservative
, market-oriented
think tank
established in New York City
in 1978 by Antony Fisher
and William J. Casey
, with its headquarters at 52 Vanderbilt Avenue
in Midtown
Manhattan
.
The organization describes its mission as to "develop and disseminate new ideas that foster greater economic choice and individual responsibility". The Institute, known for its advocacy of free market
-based solutions to policy problems, supports and publicizes research on the economy, energy, education, health care, welfare reform, the legal system, crime reduction, and urban life, among others. Its message is communicated through books, articles, interviews, speeches, op-eds, and through the institute's quarterly publication City Journal, targeted at policymakers, politicians, scholars, and journalists.
, James Piereson and John McWhorter
, the Center for the American University hosts forums and conferences with influential voices in higher education reform like Mark Bauerlein, Victor Davis Hanson
, and Anthony Kronan, and manages the web site Minding the Campus, in addition to producing regularly published articles and op-eds.
It also oversees the administration of the VERITAS Fund for Higher Education Reform, the goal of which "is to restore what conservative and other critics see as leading casualties of the campus culture wars of the 1980s and '90s: the teaching of Western culture and a triumphal interpretation of American history" and serve to "work against the thrust of programs and courses in gender, race and class studies, and postmodernism in general".
founder George T. McDonald. The Social Entrepreneurship Initiative also sponsors the #William E. Simon Lectures on Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship.
, and Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush
. The 2009 Urban Innovator Award was presented to Atlanta Housing Authority
President Renee Glover.
and Trial Lawyers Inc..
Institute scholar Peter W. Huber
and former scholar Walter Olson
were two of the first public policy experts to advocate for tort
and litigation reform. Huber's books Liability: The Legal Revolution and its Consequences (1988) and Galileo's Revenge: Junk Science in the Courtroom (1991) and Olson's book The Litigation Explosion: What Happened When America Unleashed the Lawsuit (1991) are credited by many with framing the initial political debate over frivolous litigation, and raising the profile of this previously obscure political issue in the early 1990s.
/Medicaid
, consumer-driven health care, Food and Drug Administration
reform, and drug importation/price controls. The center also publishes MedicalProgressToday.com, a web magazine about market-friendly health care-related public policies featuring original articles, podcast interviews with health care experts, and opinion forums.
Senior fellow and Canadian physician David Gratzer
, was called upon to testify before the United States Congress
twice in 2009. On June 10, 2009, he appeared before the United States House Education Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions
to testify on the single payer health care option. On June 24, 2009, he appeared before the House Committee on Ways and Means to testify on reforming the U.S. health care system.
In November 2009, Encounter Books
published Gratzer's broadside "Why Obama’s Government Takeover of Health Care Will Be a Disaster", which examines the current system and presents free-market strategies to reform it "without ruining the patient / doctor relationship, stifling scientific advances, and further devastating our economy".
In May 2009, Douglas Holtz-Eakin
, former director of the Congressional Budget Office
, wrote a report for the Manhattan Institute on bipartisan health care reform based on conservative principles entitled Forging a New Plan For Health Care: Principles and Priorities for Sustainable Reform.
and Jim Manzi
research and write about free-market solutions to American energy supply issues and are especially concerned with the energy supply's relatedness to economic stability and national security. Huber's latest report advocates the utilization of natural gas and electricity over oil.
" through research reports, conferences, and commentary aimed at policymakers, media, and the public. It is located at 119 Washington Avenue in Albany, New York
. On January 4, 2010, the center released a report entitled "Blueprint for a Better Budget: A Plan of Action for New York State" proposing budget solutions that the authors claim would save the state $30 billion over three years.
methods. In particular, the Institute is widely credited with pioneering community policing methods and more specifically quality-of-life policing, also known as "broken windows theory
" after the landmark 1982 Atlantic Monthly article "Broken Windows" by James Q. Wilson
and George L. Kelling
. Kelling remains a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute's Center for State and Local Leadership. Broken Windows posits that dealing more effectively and comprehensively with low-level quality of life crime, previously ignored by over-stretched police forces, would pay dividends in combating more high-profile violent crime. By doing this, Wison and Kelling believed this would combat the general lawlessness that had overrun inner city areas in many American cities in the 1970s. Broken Windows policing was put to its first major large-scale test in the mid-1990s after the election of Rudolph Giuliani as mayor of New York City. Giuliani was an outspoken advocate of community policing, frequently citing the influence "Broken Windows" had on his thinking as mayor. Giuliani appointed Kelling’s intellectual collaborator William Bratton as New York City Police Commissioner
in 1994, saying, "I chose Bill Bratton because he agreed with the Broken Windows theory.
A follow-up book by Kelling and Catherine Coles published by the Manhattan Institute in 1996 led to further interest in community policing methods, leading many municipalities to adopt quality-of-life and community policing as official policy. Giuliani-era New York City Police Commissioner
William J. "Bill" Bratton
took these methods to Los Angeles on being appointed Los Angeles Police Department
chief of police
,. Newark, New Jersey
Mayor Cory Booker
has been lauded for his Broken Windows-based approach to crime since taking office in 2006.
Senior fellow Heather Mac Donald
argues that successful crime prevention
statistics from the 2008–2009 recession were a result of efficient policing, high incarceration rates, more police officers working, data–driven approaches such as CompStat which helps commanders target high–crime areas, and a policy of holding precinct commanders accountable for results. She contends the decline of American cities, beginning during the 1960s, was a result of crime "spiraling out of control".
in the mid-1990s. Charles Murray
's Losing Ground: American Social Policy 1950-1980 (1984) was one of the first books to argue that the welfare state had fostered a culture and cycle of dependency that was to the detriment of both welfare recipients and the United States as a whole.
Myron Magnet
's The Dream and the Nightmare: The Sixties' Legacy to the Underclass (1993) laid much of the intellectual foundation for the welfare reform movement, and was cited by President George W. Bush as the book that has influenced his thinking the most after the Bible. Karl Rove has stated that Dream underlies the entire compassionate conservatism movement.
helped to convince the Supreme Court of the United States
to affirm the constitutionality of school vouchers in its landmark Zelman v. Simmons-Harris
decision. His research was cited four times, including three times by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor who court-watchers had identified as the “swing vote” on the case.
prescription drug program, and argues that patients and their doctors should make their own decisions to choose drugs like Vioxx, rather than having the U.S. Food and Drug Administration decide on the basis of "bureaucratized ... scientific study."
The Manhattan Institute issued a report by Frank Lichtenberg, a business professor at Columbia University, on the adverse effects of drug price negotiating in the Veterans Administration. Lichtenberg said that the VA National Formulary excludes many new drugs. Only 38% of drugs approved in the 1990s and 19% of the drugs approved since 2000 are on the formulary. He also argues that the life expectancy of veterans "may have declined" as a result.
(fracking) method of extracting natural gas and oil from underground deposits. Opponents have been critical of the method owing to concerns that the chemicals involved in it lead to water contamination. In response to calls to ban fracking in parts of New York, the Manhattan Institute released a report in 2011 projecting that allowing fracking would stimulate the state economy to the tune of $11 billion.
of all investors and traders. Singer wrote that the failures were in the private market, not government.
and 2009's "Decline is a Choice" by Dr. Charles Krauthammer
.
has delivered an annual Wilson Lecture on public policy for the Institute since 1997. 2008's lecture "Can Genes Explain our Politics?" was adapted for the Winter 2009 issue of City Journal.
foundation and part of the Institute's Social Entrepreneurship Initiative, the lecture has been delivered annually since 2007 in New York City
. Senior Fellow Heather Mac Donald
delivered the inaugural lecture which was adapted for and published in City Journal. The 2009 lecture was delivered by Bridgespan Group founder Thomas J. Tierney. The 2010 lecture was given by William Schambra, director of the Bradley Center for Philanthropy at the Hudson Institution.
. The exclusive group meets monthly to hear from leading thinkers on the pressing issues of the day in an evening lecture and cocktail party forum. Past speakers include Ambassador John Bolton
, Steve Forbes
, Former Attorney General Edwin Meese
, and Niall Ferguson
, in addition to some of the Manhattan Institute's own senior fellows like Nicole Gelinas, Steven Malanga
, and Peter W. Huber
.
Rick Baker
, former mayor of St. Petersburg, FL
Michael Knox Beran, contributing editor, City Journal
Claire Berlinski, contributing editor, City Journal
Lester Brickman
, visiting scholar
Robert Bryce
, senior fellow, Center for Energy Policy and the Environment
James Copland, director, Center for Legal Policy
Daniel DiSalvo, senior fellow, Center for State and Local Leadership
Ted Frank, adjunct fellow, Center for Legal Policy
Diane Furchgott-Roth, adjunct fellow
Nicole Gelinas, Searle Freedom Trust Fellow at the Manhattan Institute,and contributing editor, City Journal
Marie Gryphon, adjunct fellow, Center for Legal Policy
Victor Davis Hanson
, contributing editor, City Journal
Paul Howard, senior fellow, director, Center for Medical Progress
Stefan Kanfer, contributing editor, City Journal
E.J. McMahon, senior fellow, Empire Center
James Piereson, senior fellow, director, Center for the American University
William Stern, contributing editor, City Journal
Jacob Vigdor, adjunct fellow
Marcus Winters, senior fellow
Luigi Zingales
, contributing editor, City Journal
People formerly affiliated with the Manhattan Institute include:
Reverend Dr. Floyd H. Flake, adjunct fellow, Center for Civic Innovation
Peggy Noonan
, Board of Trustees member
Roger Hertog
, philanthropist and Chairman Emeritus of the Institute
Notable members of the board of trustees include: William Kristol
, The Weekly Standard; Robert Rosenkranz
, CEO, Delphi Financial Group, Inc; and Andrew Saul
, Chairman of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
.
, the John M. Olin Foundation, Inc., the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, the Scaife Foundations, and the Smith Richardson Foundation. The Manhattan Institute does not disclose its corporate funding, but the Capital Research Center listed its contributors as Bristol-Myers Squibb, Exxon Mobil, Chase Manhattan, CIGNA, Sprint, Reliant Energy, Lincoln Financial Group Foundation, and Merrill Lynch.
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...
, market-oriented
Market economy
A market economy is an economy in which the prices of goods and services are determined in a free price system. This is often contrasted with a state-directed or planned economy. Market economies can range from hypothetically pure laissez-faire variants to an assortment of real-world mixed...
think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
established in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1978 by Antony Fisher
Antony Fisher
Sir Antony Fisher was one of the most influential background players in the global rise of libertarian think-tanks during the second half of the twentieth century, founding the Institute of Economic Affairs and the Atlas Economic Research Foundation. Through Atlas, he helped establish up to 150...
and William J. Casey
William J. Casey
William Joseph Casey was the Director of Central Intelligence from 1981 to 1987. In this capacity he oversaw the entire United States Intelligence Community and personally directed the Central Intelligence Agency ....
, with its headquarters at 52 Vanderbilt Avenue
Vanderbilt Avenue (Manhattan)
Vanderbilt Avenue is a short road in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs from 42nd Street to 47th Street, between Park Avenue and Madison Avenue. The road was created in the late 1860s as the result of construction of Grand Central Depot, and is named for Cornelius Vanderbilt, the...
in Midtown
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan, or simply Midtown, is an area of Manhattan, New York City home to world-famous commercial zones such as Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and Times Square...
Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
.
The organization describes its mission as to "develop and disseminate new ideas that foster greater economic choice and individual responsibility". The Institute, known for its advocacy of free market
Free market
A free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...
-based solutions to policy problems, supports and publicizes research on the economy, energy, education, health care, welfare reform, the legal system, crime reduction, and urban life, among others. Its message is communicated through books, articles, interviews, speeches, op-eds, and through the institute's quarterly publication City Journal, targeted at policymakers, politicians, scholars, and journalists.
Center for the American University
Directed by senior fellows John LeoJohn Leo
John Leo is a writer and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. He edits , the Institute's web site on America's universities, and is a contributing editor of City Journal. He is also a Visitor of Ralston College, a start-up liberal arts college in Savannah.From 1988 to 2006 his weekly column...
, James Piereson and John McWhorter
John McWhorter
John Hamilton McWhorter V is an American linguist and political commentator. He is the author of a number of books on language and on race relations. His linguistic specialty is creole and the process through which it forms.-Early life:...
, the Center for the American University hosts forums and conferences with influential voices in higher education reform like Mark Bauerlein, Victor Davis Hanson
Victor Davis Hanson
Victor Davis Hanson is an American military historian, columnist, political essayist and former classics professor, notable as a scholar of ancient warfare. He has been a commentator on modern warfare and contemporary politics for National Review and other media outlets...
, and Anthony Kronan, and manages the web site Minding the Campus, in addition to producing regularly published articles and op-eds.
It also oversees the administration of the VERITAS Fund for Higher Education Reform, the goal of which "is to restore what conservative and other critics see as leading casualties of the campus culture wars of the 1980s and '90s: the teaching of Western culture and a triumphal interpretation of American history" and serve to "work against the thrust of programs and courses in gender, race and class studies, and postmodernism in general".
Center for State and Local Leadership
The Center for Civic Innovation's regularly publishes research reports and bulletins on the topics of prisoner re-entry, pension reform, public housing, infrastructure, school choice, and policing, and manages an online database of urban policy resources, Cities on a Hill, launched in November 2009.Social Entrepreneurship Initiative
The Center for Civic Innovation's Social Entrepreneurship Initiative was established in 2001 on the belief that "in a healthy society, markets are complemented by charitable and philanthropic enterprises which both help those in need and help prepare citizens to realize their potential". Each year, it awards up to five innovative nonprofit leaders with a $25,000 Social Entrepreneurship Award. It also gives out a $100,000 William E. Simon Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Social Entrepreneurship. Past winners include Knowledge Is Power Program founders Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin and The Doe FundThe Doe Fund
The Doe Fund is a non-profit organization that provides job training and work opportunities, housing assistance, advocacy and support for homeless and unemployed people in New York City...
founder George T. McDonald. The Social Entrepreneurship Initiative also sponsors the #William E. Simon Lectures on Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship.
Urban Innovator Award
Since 2000, the Center for Civic Innovation has awarded the annual Urban Innovator Award to urban leaders with "effective approaches to improving life in America’s cities". Past winners include NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly, Former Washington DC Mayor Anthony A. WilliamsAnthony A. Williams
Anthony Allen "Tony" Williams is an American politician who served as the fifth mayor of the District of Columbia for two terms, from 1999 to 2007. He had previously served as chief financial officer for the District, managing to balance the budget and achieve a surplus within two years of...
, and Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush
Jeb Bush
John Ellis "Jeb" Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. He is a prominent member of the Bush family: the second son of former President George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush; the younger brother of former President George W...
. The 2009 Urban Innovator Award was presented to Atlanta Housing Authority
Atlanta Housing Authority
Atlanta Housing Authority is organized under Georgia law to develop, acquire, lease and operate affordable housing for low-income families. Today, AHA is the largest housing agency in Georgia and one of the largest in the nation, serving approximately 50,000 people.-AHA model:In 1996, AHA created...
President Renee Glover.
Center for Legal Policy
The Center for Legal Policy, directed by senior fellow James Copland, is known for its position that "America's litigation system reduces innovation and investment, lowers safety and well-being, and erodes the risk-taking and personal responsibility essential to our free society.". It regularly publishes reports and books on the subject and sponsors the web sites Point of LawPoint of Law
Point of Law is a game in the 3M bookshelf game series. It was designed by Michel Lipman and published in 1972. The game includes a book giving summaries of one hundred real-life court cases, each with four possible outcomes. The players discuss the case, then each decides which of the outcomes is...
and Trial Lawyers Inc..
Institute scholar Peter W. Huber
Peter W. Huber
Peter William Huber is a partner at the law firm of Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel, and an author and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute...
and former scholar Walter Olson
Walter Olson
Walter K. Olson is an author and blogger who writes mostly about tort reform. Olson is a senior fellow of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington DC. Formerly Olson was associated with the Manhattan Institute in New York City...
were two of the first public policy experts to advocate for tort
Tort reform
Tort reform refers to proposed changes in common law civil justice systems that would reduce tort litigation or damages. Tort actions are civil common law claims first created in the English commonwealth system as a non-legislative means for compensating wrongs and harm done by one party to...
and litigation reform. Huber's books Liability: The Legal Revolution and its Consequences (1988) and Galileo's Revenge: Junk Science in the Courtroom (1991) and Olson's book The Litigation Explosion: What Happened When America Unleashed the Lawsuit (1991) are credited by many with framing the initial political debate over frivolous litigation, and raising the profile of this previously obscure political issue in the early 1990s.
Center for Medical Progress
The Center for Medical Progress is dedicated to articulating the importance of medical progress and the connection between free-market institutions and making medical progress both possible and widely available throughout the world. Reports from the Center for Medical Progress, directed by senior fellow Paul Howard, focus on Medicare (United States)Medicare (United States)
Medicare is a social insurance program administered by the United States government, providing health insurance coverage to people who are aged 65 and over; to those who are under 65 and are permanently physically disabled or who have a congenital physical disability; or to those who meet other...
/Medicaid
Medicaid
Medicaid is the United States health program for certain people and families with low incomes and resources. It is a means-tested program that is jointly funded by the state and federal governments, and is managed by the states. People served by Medicaid are U.S. citizens or legal permanent...
, consumer-driven health care, Food and Drug Administration
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
reform, and drug importation/price controls. The center also publishes MedicalProgressToday.com, a web magazine about market-friendly health care-related public policies featuring original articles, podcast interviews with health care experts, and opinion forums.
Senior fellow and Canadian physician David Gratzer
David Gratzer
David George Gratzer is a physician, columnist, author, Congressional expert witness, and a senior fellow at both the Manhattan Institute and the Montreal Economic Institute...
, was called upon to testify before the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
twice in 2009. On June 10, 2009, he appeared before the United States House Education Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions
United States House Education Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions
The House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions is a standing subcommittee within the United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce...
to testify on the single payer health care option. On June 24, 2009, he appeared before the House Committee on Ways and Means to testify on reforming the U.S. health care system.
In November 2009, Encounter Books
Encounter Books
Encounter Books is an American conservative book publisher. It is an activity of Encounter for Culture and Education, Inc. Encounter Books draws its name from Encounter , the now defunct literary magazine founded by Irving Kristol and Stephen Spender....
published Gratzer's broadside "Why Obama’s Government Takeover of Health Care Will Be a Disaster", which examines the current system and presents free-market strategies to reform it "without ruining the patient / doctor relationship, stifling scientific advances, and further devastating our economy".
In May 2009, Douglas Holtz-Eakin
Douglas Holtz-Eakin
Douglas J. "Doug" Holtz-Eakin is an American economist, former professor, former Director of the Congressional Budget Office and former chief economic policy adviser to U.S...
, former director of the Congressional Budget Office
Congressional Budget Office
The Congressional Budget Office is a federal agency within the legislative branch of the United States government that provides economic data to Congress....
, wrote a report for the Manhattan Institute on bipartisan health care reform based on conservative principles entitled Forging a New Plan For Health Care: Principles and Priorities for Sustainable Reform.
Center for Energy Policy and the Environment
Senior Fellows Robert Bryce, Peter W. HuberPeter W. Huber
Peter William Huber is a partner at the law firm of Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel, and an author and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute...
and Jim Manzi
Jim Manzi (political commentator)
James "Jim" Manzi is an American businessman and political commentator. He is currently the chairman and managing director of Applied Predictive Technologies, a business analytics software company, a contributing editor at the National Review, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, and a...
research and write about free-market solutions to American energy supply issues and are especially concerned with the energy supply's relatedness to economic stability and national security. Huber's latest report advocates the utilization of natural gas and electricity over oil.
Empire Center for New York State Policy
Established in January 2005 under the directorship of senior fellow Edmund J. McMahon, the Empire Center for New York State Policy is "dedicated to promoting freedom, opportunity, and enterprise in the Empire StateEmpire State
The Empire State is the official nickname of the U.S. state New York. It may also refer to:*Empire State Building, skyscraper in New York City, one of the tallest buildings in the world*Empire State Plaza, state office complex in Albany, New York...
" through research reports, conferences, and commentary aimed at policymakers, media, and the public. It is located at 119 Washington Avenue in Albany, New York
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
. On January 4, 2010, the center released a report entitled "Blueprint for a Better Budget: A Plan of Action for New York State" proposing budget solutions that the authors claim would save the state $30 billion over three years.
Law enforcement
The Manhattan Institute is perhaps best known for its influence on law enforcementLaw enforcement agency
In North American English, a law enforcement agency is a government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.Outside North America, such organizations are called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police while others have other names In North American...
methods. In particular, the Institute is widely credited with pioneering community policing methods and more specifically quality-of-life policing, also known as "broken windows theory
Fixing Broken Windows
The broken windows theory is a criminological theory of the norm setting and signaling effect of urban disorder and vandalism on additional crime and anti-social behavior...
" after the landmark 1982 Atlantic Monthly article "Broken Windows" by James Q. Wilson
James Q. Wilson
James 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....
and George L. Kelling
George L. Kelling
George L. Kelling is an American criminologist, Professor at Rutgers University, a Research Fellow at Harvard University, and an Adjunct Fellow at the Manhattan Institute. He previously taught at Northeastern University....
. Kelling remains a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute's Center for State and Local Leadership. Broken Windows posits that dealing more effectively and comprehensively with low-level quality of life crime, previously ignored by over-stretched police forces, would pay dividends in combating more high-profile violent crime. By doing this, Wison and Kelling believed this would combat the general lawlessness that had overrun inner city areas in many American cities in the 1970s. Broken Windows policing was put to its first major large-scale test in the mid-1990s after the election of Rudolph Giuliani as mayor of New York City. Giuliani was an outspoken advocate of community policing, frequently citing the influence "Broken Windows" had on his thinking as mayor. Giuliani appointed Kelling’s intellectual collaborator William Bratton as New York City Police Commissioner
New York City Police Commissioner
The New York City Police Commissioner is the head of the New York City Police Department, appointed by the Mayor of New York City. Governor Theodore Roosevelt, in one of his final acts before becoming Vice President of the United States in March 1901, signed legislation replacing the Police Board...
in 1994, saying, "I chose Bill Bratton because he agreed with the Broken Windows theory.
A follow-up book by Kelling and Catherine Coles published by the Manhattan Institute in 1996 led to further interest in community policing methods, leading many municipalities to adopt quality-of-life and community policing as official policy. Giuliani-era New York City Police Commissioner
New York City Police Commissioner
The New York City Police Commissioner is the head of the New York City Police Department, appointed by the Mayor of New York City. Governor Theodore Roosevelt, in one of his final acts before becoming Vice President of the United States in March 1901, signed legislation replacing the Police Board...
William J. "Bill" Bratton
William J. Bratton
William Joseph "Bill" Bratton CBE is an American law enforcement officer who served as the chief of police of the Los Angeles Police Department , New York City Police Commissioner, and Boston Police Commissioner....
took these methods to Los Angeles on being appointed Los Angeles Police Department
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
chief of police
Chief of police
A Chief of Police is the title typically given to the top official in the chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. Alternate titles for this position include Commissioner, Superintendent, and Chief constable...
,. Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
Mayor Cory Booker
Cory Booker
Cory Anthony Booker is the Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Booker is a former Newark City Councilman...
has been lauded for his Broken Windows-based approach to crime since taking office in 2006.
Senior fellow Heather Mac Donald
Heather Mac Donald
Heather Lynn Mac Donald is an American political commentator and thinker notable for her advocacy of secular conservatism. She has advocated her positions on numerous subjects including crime prevention, immigration reform, academia, the art world, and politics. She is a prolific essayist...
argues that successful crime prevention
Crime prevention
Crime prevention is the attempt to reduce victimization and to deter crime and criminals. It is applied specifically to efforts made by governments to reduce crime, enforce the law, and maintain criminal justice.-Studies:...
statistics from the 2008–2009 recession were a result of efficient policing, high incarceration rates, more police officers working, data–driven approaches such as CompStat which helps commanders target high–crime areas, and a policy of holding precinct commanders accountable for results. She contends the decline of American cities, beginning during the 1960s, was a result of crime "spiraling out of control".
Welfare reform
The Manhattan Institute was one of the key institutions that successfully pressed for reform of the welfare systemWelfare reform
Welfare reform refers to the process of reforming the framework of social security and welfare provisions, but what is considered reform is a matter of opinion. The term was used in the United States to support the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act...
in the mid-1990s. Charles Murray
Charles Murray (author)
Charles Alan Murray is an American libertarian political scientist, author, columnist, and pundit working as a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington, DC...
's Losing Ground: American Social Policy 1950-1980 (1984) was one of the first books to argue that the welfare state had fostered a culture and cycle of dependency that was to the detriment of both welfare recipients and the United States as a whole.
Myron Magnet
Myron Magnet
Myron Magnet was the editor of City Journal from 1994 through 2007 and is now the magazine's Editor-at-Large. The Manhattan Institute's quarterly journal of urban affairs, City Journal focuses on endemic urban dilemmas such as welfare, housing, taxes, and crime from a free-market, conservative...
's The Dream and the Nightmare: The Sixties' Legacy to the Underclass (1993) laid much of the intellectual foundation for the welfare reform movement, and was cited by President George W. Bush as the book that has influenced his thinking the most after the Bible. Karl Rove has stated that Dream underlies the entire compassionate conservatism movement.
School choice
Former senior fellow Jay P. Greene’s empirical research on the efficacy of school choiceSchool choice
School choice is a term used to describe a wide array of programs aimed at giving families the opportunity to choose the school their children will attend. As a matter of form, school choice does not give preference to one form of schooling or another, rather manifests itself whenever a student...
helped to convince the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
to affirm the constitutionality of school vouchers in its landmark Zelman v. Simmons-Harris
Zelman v. Simmons-Harris
Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, , was a case decided by the United States Supreme Court which tested the allowance of school vouchers in relation to the establishment clause of the First Amendment....
decision. His research was cited four times, including three times by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor who court-watchers had identified as the “swing vote” on the case.
Medicare
Benjamin Zycher, former Senior Fellow at Manhattan Institute's Center for Medical Progress, opposes allowing the federal government to negotiate prices in the Medicare Part DMedicare Part D
Medicare Part D is a federal program to subsidize the costs of prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries in the United States. It was enacted as part of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 and went into effect on January 1, 2006.- Eligibility and...
prescription drug program, and argues that patients and their doctors should make their own decisions to choose drugs like Vioxx, rather than having the U.S. Food and Drug Administration decide on the basis of "bureaucratized ... scientific study."
The Manhattan Institute issued a report by Frank Lichtenberg, a business professor at Columbia University, on the adverse effects of drug price negotiating in the Veterans Administration. Lichtenberg said that the VA National Formulary excludes many new drugs. Only 38% of drugs approved in the 1990s and 19% of the drugs approved since 2000 are on the formulary. He also argues that the life expectancy of veterans "may have declined" as a result.
Hydraulic fracturing
The Manhattan Institute is a proponent of the hydraulic fracturingHydraulic fracturing
Considerable controversy surrounds the current implementation of hydraulic fracturing technology in the United States. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the process of utilizing pressurized water, or some other liquid, to fracture rock layers and release petroleum, natural gas, or other...
(fracking) method of extracting natural gas and oil from underground deposits. Opponents have been critical of the method owing to concerns that the chemicals involved in it lead to water contamination. In response to calls to ban fracking in parts of New York, the Manhattan Institute released a report in 2011 projecting that allowing fracking would stimulate the state economy to the tune of $11 billion.
Financial crisis
After the financial collapse of 2008, Paul Singer, chairman of the Manhattan Institute, called for regulationRegulatory economics
Regulatory economics is the economics of regulation, in the sense of the application of law by government that is used for various purposes, such as centrally-planning an economy, remedying market failure, enriching well-connected firms, or benefiting politicians...
of all investors and traders. Singer wrote that the failures were in the private market, not government.
Wriston Lectures
The Wriston Lecture series, established in 1987 in honor of Walter B. Wriston, seeks "to inform and enrich intellectual debate surrounding the great public issues of our day, and to recognize individuals whose ideas or accomplishments have left a mark on their world." Several of the annual lectures have garnered national media attention and debate, such as 2008's "How to Read the Constitution" by the Honorable Clarence ThomasClarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Succeeding Thurgood Marshall, Thomas is the second African American to serve on the Court....
and 2009's "Decline is a Choice" by Dr. Charles Krauthammer
Charles Krauthammer
Charles Krauthammer, MD is an American Pulitzer Prize–winning syndicated columnist, political commentator, and physician. His weekly column appears in The Washington Post and is syndicated to more than 275 newspapers and media outlets. He is a contributing editor to the Weekly Standard and The New...
.
Wilson Lectures
American social scientist and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient James Q. WilsonJames Q. Wilson
James 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....
has delivered an annual Wilson Lecture on public policy for the Institute since 1997. 2008's lecture "Can Genes Explain our Politics?" was adapted for the Winter 2009 issue of City Journal.
William E. Simon Lectures on Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship
Supported by the William E. SimonWilliam E. Simon
William Edward Simon was a businessman, a Secretary of Treasury of the U.S. for three years, and a philanthropist. He became the 63rd Secretary of the Treasury on May 8, 1974, during the Nixon administration. He was reappointed by President Ford and served until 1977. Outside of government, he was...
foundation and part of the Institute's Social Entrepreneurship Initiative, the lecture has been delivered annually since 2007 in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Senior Fellow Heather Mac Donald
Heather Mac Donald
Heather Lynn Mac Donald is an American political commentator and thinker notable for her advocacy of secular conservatism. She has advocated her positions on numerous subjects including crime prevention, immigration reform, academia, the art world, and politics. She is a prolific essayist...
delivered the inaugural lecture which was adapted for and published in City Journal. The 2009 lecture was delivered by Bridgespan Group founder Thomas J. Tierney. The 2010 lecture was given by William Schambra, director of the Bradley Center for Philanthropy at the Hudson Institution.
Hayek Prize and Lectures
Established in 2005, the annual Hayek Prize "honors the book published within the past two years that best reflects Friedrich von Hayek's vision of economic and individual liberty". Winning authors deliver that year's Hayek Lecture and are awarded a $50,000 prize. The 2010 winners were Benn Steil and Manuel Hinds, authors of Money, Markets and Sovereignty.Alexander Hamilton Award
The Alexander Hamilton Award is awarded annually by the Manhattan Institute to individuals who have made a lasting contribution to New York City. The dinner that also serves to raise money for the Manhattan Institute. In 2008, tables at the awards dinner ranged from $75,000 to $5000 or $1000 for individual tickets. The recipients of the 2010 Alexander Hamilton Award were Joel Klein, Executive Vice President of News Corporation and former Chancellor of New York City Schools and Mortimer B. Zuckerman, Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO, of Boston Properties, Inc., Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of U.S. News & World Report and Publisher of the New York Daily News.Young Leaders Circle
The Manhattan Institute launched its Young Leaders Circle program for policy-minded New York City-area young professionals on January 17, 2007 with inaugural speaker David BrooksDavid Brooks (journalist)
David Brooks is a Canadian-born political and cultural commentator who considers himself a moderate and writes for the New York Times...
. The exclusive group meets monthly to hear from leading thinkers on the pressing issues of the day in an evening lecture and cocktail party forum. Past speakers include Ambassador John Bolton
John R. Bolton
John Robert Bolton is an American lawyer and diplomat who has served in several Republican presidential administrations. He served as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations from August 2005 until December 2006 on a recess appointment...
, Steve Forbes
Steve Forbes
Malcolm Stevenson "Steve" Forbes, Jr. is an American editor, publisher, and businessman. He is the editor-in-chief of business magazine Forbes as well as president and chief executive officer of its publisher, Forbes Inc. He was a Republican candidate in the U.S. Presidential primaries in 1996...
, Former Attorney General Edwin Meese
Edwin Meese
Edwin "Ed" Meese, III is an attorney, law professor, and author who served in official capacities within the Ronald Reagan Gubernatorial Administration , the Reagan Presidential Transition Team , and the Reagan White House , eventually rising to hold the position of the 75th Attorney General of...
, and Niall Ferguson
Niall Ferguson
Niall Campbell Douglas Ferguson is a British historian. His specialty is financial and economic history, particularly hyperinflation and the bond markets, as well as the history of colonialism.....
, in addition to some of the Manhattan Institute's own senior fellows like Nicole Gelinas, Steven Malanga
Steven Malanga
Steven Malanga is a contributing editor to City Journal and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, which publishes City Journal. His primary area of focus is economic development within dense urban centers, with a particular emphasis on those areas in and surrounding New York and the Tri-State...
, and Peter W. Huber
Peter W. Huber
Peter William Huber is a partner at the law firm of Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel, and an author and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute...
.
Notable people
People currently affiliated with the Manhattan Institute include:Rick Baker
Rick Baker may refer to:*Rick Baker , Hollywood special makeup effects artist*Rick Baker , most recent mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida...
, former mayor of St. Petersburg, FL
Lester Brickman
Lester Brickman is a professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law of the Yeshiva University and a widely-regarded legal scholar.Brickman is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University...
, visiting scholar
Robert Bryce (writer)
Robert Bryce is an American author and journalist who lives in Austin, Texas. His articles on energy, politics, and other topics have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Counterpunch, and Atlantic Monthly.-Career:Bryce has been...
, senior fellow, Center for Energy Policy and the Environment
Victor Davis Hanson
Victor Davis Hanson is an American military historian, columnist, political essayist and former classics professor, notable as a scholar of ancient warfare. He has been a commentator on modern warfare and contemporary politics for National Review and other media outlets...
, contributing editor, City Journal
Luigi Zingales
Luigi G. Zingales is the Robert C. McCormack professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Zingales also serves as a member of the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation....
, contributing editor, City Journal
People formerly affiliated with the Manhattan Institute include:
|
Peggy Noonan
Peggy Noonan is an American author of seven books on politics, religion, and culture and a weekly columnist for The Wall Street Journal...
, Board of Trustees member
Roger Hertog
Roger Hertog is an American businessman, financier and conservative philanthropist. Born and raised in the Bronx borough of New York City, New York, Hertog pursued a career in business....
, philanthropist and Chairman Emeritus of the Institute
Notable members of the board of trustees include: William Kristol
William Kristol
William Kristol is an American neoconservative political analyst and commentator. He is the founder and editor of the political magazine The Weekly Standard and a regular commentator on the Fox News Channel....
, The Weekly Standard; Robert Rosenkranz
Robert Rosenkranz
Robert Rosenkranz is a philanthropist and the CEO of Delphi Financial Group, a New York Stock Exchange-listed insurance holding company with assets of over $8 billion, and the founder of a group of investment and private equity partnerships.A graduate of Yale and Harvard Law School, he spent his...
, CEO, Delphi Financial Group, Inc; and Andrew Saul
Andrew Saul
Andrew Marshall Saul is an American millionaire businessman from Katonah, New York who serves as the Chairman of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board and Vice Chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City, United States...
, Chairman of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board was established as an independent agency of the United States government by the Federal Employees Retirement System Act of 1986. It is one of the smaller executive branch agencies, with just over 80 employees...
.
Funding sources
The Manhattan Institute received $19,470,416 in grants from 1985–2005, from foundations such as the Koch Family FoundationsKoch Family Foundations
Koch Family Foundations is the informal name for a group of charities in the United States of America associated with the family of Fred C. Koch. The most prominent of these are the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation, created by two of Fred C...
, the John M. Olin Foundation, Inc., the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, the Scaife Foundations, and the Smith Richardson Foundation. The Manhattan Institute does not disclose its corporate funding, but the Capital Research Center listed its contributors as Bristol-Myers Squibb, Exxon Mobil, Chase Manhattan, CIGNA, Sprint, Reliant Energy, Lincoln Financial Group Foundation, and Merrill Lynch.