THIRTY
IDEA.
YEARS AGO,
THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION
WAS JUST AN
WHAT
FEW THINK TANKS THERE WERE THEN DEVOTED
THEMSELVES TO SCHOLARLY STUDIES ON SUBJECTS OFTEN MORE RELEVANT TO THEIR PEERS AND CERTAINLY MORE CONDUCIVE TO AFTER-THE-FACT ANALYSIS THAN TO PRO-ACTIVE ISSUE ADVANCEMENT.
FROM
THE BEGINNING,
HERITAGE’S
MISSION WAS TO PROVIDE
FEATURE
TIMELY, CREDIBLE INFORMATION FOR POLICYMAKERS AND THE MEDIA.
FROM
OUR FAMOUS “BRIEFCASE TEST ”—PAPERS HAD TO BRIEFCASE AND BE READABLE ON THE
FIT IN A
CONGRESSMAN’S
GO—TO OUR FINELY TUNED TARGETING OF POLICYMAKERS,
HERITAGE
BECAME, IN THE WORDS OF HISTORIAN JAMES SALESMAN AND PROMOTER OF IDEAS
A.
SMITH, “ THE
PAR
EXCELLENCE.” AND SO IT CONTINUES TO BE.
FOR THREE
DRIVEN BY
DECADES, THE
THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION
OF IDEAS COUPLED
HAS BEEN WITH AN
POWER
ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT.
THE INSIDER
APRIL 2003, NO. 305, ISSN# 1542-6173
The deadline for all submissions to The Insider is the 10th of the month to be included in next month’s issue. Please contact The Editor, The Insider, The Heritage Foundation, 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Washington, D.C. 20002-4999, 202/546-4400, fax 202/544-0961, email Insider@heritage.org. The Insider is published monthly by The Heritage Foundation’s Coalition Relations Department. Begun in January 1978, The Insider abstracts recent publications, profiles the latest legal action, and reports newsworthy events in the conservative movement. The Coalition Relations Department serves as Heritage’s liaison to a network of some 400 policy groups and over 2,000 leading scholars and activists worldwide.
COALITION RELATIONS STAFF
Bridgett Wagner, Director, Coalition Relations • John Hilboldt, Deputy Director, Coalition Relations • Andrew Walker, Editor, The Insider • Lynn Gibson, Job Bank Coordinator • David Jetter, Internship Coordinator • Kelli Fulton, Project Coordinator Becky Norton Dunlop, Vice President, External Relations
Note: Nothing written here is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the view of The Heritage Foundation or as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill before Congress.
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F
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With the publishing of the original Mandate for Leadership in 1980—outlining policy recommendations for every major executive branch department and agency—Heritage became a major force in the national policy debates. Endorsed personally by President Reagan, some 60 percent of Mandate’s recommendations were eventually implemented by his Administration. In addition to our mission to formulate and promote principled policies, Heritage has been actively committed to furthering and strengthening the conservative movement. We have supported the development of state and regional think tanks from coast to coast—and now worldwide. Through the Heritage Resource Bank, the conservative movement has gained a mechanism for building an organized and effective network of researchers, policy advocates, academics, and activists to articulate and promote basic conservative principles and thought.
With the 1990s revolution in communication technology, TownHall.com was founded as the first truly interactive community on the Internet to bring users, policy organizations, congressional staff, and activists together under a single, broad umbrella. As a one-stop mall of ideas in which people could congregate to exchange, discuss and disseminate the latest news and information from the movement, this emerging medium has become a powerful tool to further open public debate - domestically and worldwide. From its original 13 member groups, Townhall has grown to more that 105 member groups today. And nearly 2,000,000 visitors each month access 7,000,000 articles on the Townhall Web site, making it the most popular policy Web site online. For 30 years, Heritage has invited leading intellectuals to share their thoughts about the direction of the nation. We now hold more than 750 lectures, debates, conferences, briefings, and other events annually at our
“HERITAGE
IS THE SWORN ENEMY OF
OVER-REGULATION, OVER-TAXATION, SOCIAL ENGINEERING, HEALTH FASCISM AND ENVIRONMENTALIST HYSTERIA. IT IS THE FRIEND OF OPPORTUNITY, INCENTIVES, FREE TRADE, AN EFFECTIVE RULE OF LAW, NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY AND STRONG DEFENSE. AND SO SAY ALL OF US!”
—LADY MARGARET THATCHER
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HERITAGE AT 30
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In producing The Insider newsletter—which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year— Heritage designed a product to enhance the “communication between cooperating groups and to alert them to forthcoming meetings, publications proposed and in progress, congressional hearings, and long-term and current issues.” Initially about six pages long, its first issue contained gems like “The Panama Canal Treaties” by Dr. Jane Work at the National Association of Manufacturers and a conference on the legal and regulatory issues of the electronic transfer of funds. Today—in over 50 pages—The Insider abstracts more than 100 papers issued by the free-market community per month, highlights numerous policy journals and magazines, reviews everincreasing and effective public interest legal activity, and features articles on key policy principles and issue advocacy. Our distribution list now includes state and local representatives, members of the executive branch, lawyers, and student groups. The Insider’s growth alone testifies to the strength and vitality of conservatism in the modern political arena.
headquarters in Washington, D.C. We provide counsel to individuals and organizations seeking to join the freedom fight. Our annual Index of Economic Freedom demonstrates the indivisibility of political and economic liberty —proving that where there is freedom, there is also prosperity. Our Center for Data Analysis provides policymakers with the kind of detail and context unavailable only a few years ago. Time and again, our staff and movement colleagues have made a difference in the direction of our nation’s public policy with shrewd, insightful, and perceptive analyses. When The Heritage Foundation was launched, we had one major goal—to create a think tank unlike any the nation’s capital had previously known. From only an idea to a permanent Washington institution—a uniquely American institution—we remain resolutely committed to our vision of building an America where freedom, opportunity, prosperity ,and civil society flourish. We continue to be out to change the world …and we have only just begun.
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