American Politics and Political Institutions
AEI is home to several prominent analysts of trends in politics and public opinion, including Michael Barone, who recently published The Almanac of American Politics 2008, coauthored with Richard E. Cohen. Norman J. Ornstein’s commentaries on national politics appear frequently in the national media. Mr. Ornstein acts as senior counselor to the Continuity of Government Commission, a joint AEI and Brookings Institution venture to ensure the stability of U.S. governmental institutions in the event of a catastrophic attack. In August, he published Vital Statistics on Congress 2008, a historical analysis of Congress that will prove useful for governmental officials and academics alike. Mr. Ornstein also directs, along with John C. Fortier and Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution, the AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project, which assesses the implementation and amendment of the Help America Vote Act. Karlyn H. Bowman regularly updates a series of public opinion studies on topics such as terrorism, business and tax issues, welfare reform, the environment, gay marriage, and work and leisure. She also edits AEI’s monthly Political Report newsletter and just completed a project that culminated in the publication of The Future of Red, Blue, and Purple America
(Brookings Institution Press, 2008), which examines the demographic and geographic changes in the electorate that have altered the sizes of different population groups and shifted their political orientation over time. Messrs. Barone, Ornstein, Fortier, and Ms. Bowman also conduct monthly sessions analyzing the 2008 election as part of the Institute's Election Watch Series. Ben J. Wattenberg is author of the just released Fighting Words: A Tale of How Liberals Created Neo-Conservatism and host of the PBS television program Think Tank, which explores current social and political issues. In April, the AEI Press published Utah State professor Tony Peacock's latest book, Deconstructing the Republic: Voting Rights, the Supreme Court, and the Founders' Republicanism Reconstructed. Visiting Fellow Edward Blum's new book, which describes how the Voting Rights Act has contributed to diminished competitive elections and the ideological polarization of voting districts, was published in December 2007 by the AEI Press. David Frum's book, Comeback: Conservatism that Can Win Again, was published by Doubleday in January, and outlines a new approach needed in the Republican Party. Steven F. Hayward is currently working on the second volume of The Age of Reagan.
AEI Legal Center for the Public Interest
The AEI Legal Center for the Public Interest considers the broad range of legal issues facing the nation. The program features research by leading legal and economic experts, including Walter Berns, John R. Bolton, Ted Frank, Michael Greve, Peter J. Wallison, and John Yoo. On September 23, Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia delivered the Center's Gauer Distinguished Lecture, in which he addressed the history of Supreme Court decisions on antitrust laws. Upcoming conferences will analyze the Supreme Court's recent and upcoming business-related cases, as well as the incoming administration's approach to legal and regulatory policy and the administration of justice. The Center's efforts are supplemented by a robust publications program that includes AEI's Liability Outlook and legal research books. Mr. Frank is continuing to oversee the publication of a series of AEI-commissioned monographs on liability reform. Future publications include An Empirical Study of Product Liability Law and General Aviation Safety, by Eric Helland and Alexander Tabarrok; Implications of Multiple Enforcement Systems in the Securities Law Area, by Michael Perino; an overview on corporate governance institutions by Eric Helland; and a monograph by Todd Zywicki on public-choice theory of tort reform.
American Federalism
AEI’s Federalism Project, directed by Michael S. Greve, seeks to rehabilitate a constitutional, competitive federalism that disciplines both the national and state governments. Mr. Greve examines federalism’s legal, institutional, and economic dimensions through conferences, roundtable discussions, AEI’s Constitutional Outlook (formerly known as the Federalist Outlook) and other scholarly and journalistic publications. Special emphasis is given to the U.S. Supreme Court’s precedent-setting federalism decisions. Recent areas of research include the Roberts Court's business-related decisions, the federal preemption of state law, and the litigation activities of state attorneys general. Last month, The Center hosted a conference titled "The Future of Federalism" which brought together legal minds from top universities to discuss the contemporary role of Federalism. In May 2007, the AEI Press published Federal Preemption: States' Powers, National Interests, edited by Mr. Greve and Richard A. Epstein. Mr. Greve is currently working on a book on the constitutional design of competitive federalism.
Demography
Population trends have long been a cornerstone of social, economic, geopolitical, and environmental concern. Nicholas Eberstadt is one of the country’s leading experts on the HIV epidemic and its potentially devastating effects on global economic and geopolitical security; he is currently researching the spread and consequences of the disease in Asia, Russia, and sub-Saharan Africa. Mr. Eberstadt is leading a project that explores the nature and consequences of “demographic divergence” between the United States and Western Europe--its impact on Europe's economic growth, on its global influence, and on the future of transatlantic relations. He also studies the strategic impact of Chinese demographic trends, such as aging, mortality, and rising imbalances in birth-sex ratios. In May 2007, the AEI Press published Global Population Aging and Its Economic Consequences, by Ronald D. Lee, which discusses the worldwide combination of low fertility and low mortality that is resulting in older, more slowly growing (or even shrinking) populations. In July 2008, AEI hosted a major conference entitled "Was Malthus Right? Was Today's Global Food Crisis Inevitable?" with addresses by Senator Richard Lugar (R.-Ind.) and World Bank president Robert Zoellick.
Culture and Freedom
One of the biggest challenges facing modern societies is maintaining a culture where virtue flourishes in tandem with freedom and material progress. AEI’s W. H. Brady Program in Culture and Freedom addresses this challenge and analyzes modern American social and cultural trends. In April, AEI published Religion and the American Future, a collection of essays presented at an AEI workshop in October 2006. The workshop brought together an array of thinkers from a variety of disciplines to examine rising secularism in the West. Michael Novak lectures throughout the United States and Europe on topics such as business ethics, economic liberty, political philosophy, and religion. In his newest book, No One Sees God: The Dark Night of Atheists and Believers, Mr. Novak provides a reasoned answer to questons about God. Last year, Leon R. Kass retired as a member of the President's Council on Bioethics. He now works on various issues including the right to human dignity and the tensions between modern science and biblical religion. Lynne V. Cheney lectures on liberalism, feminism, and American exceptionalism; she just published a new book, titled, We the People: The Story of Our Constitution. Christina Hoff Sommers is leading a project to consider the role of women in science, which will culminate in an edited volume of essays published by the AEI Press. David Gelernter writes on Jewish thought, American culture and religion, technology, and artificial intelligence. His book, Americanism: The Fourth Great Western Religion, was published in July 2007 by Doubleday. Arthur C. Brooks, who will succeed Christopher DeMuth as AEI's president in January 2009, researches and writes about the connections between culture, politics, and economic life in America. This past April, Basic Books published his latest work: Gross National Happiness.
Government Program and Policy Evaluations
In keeping with the Institute’s longstanding commitment to limited but energetic government, AEI scholars evaluate the effectiveness of existing federal policies and programs. Since the 9/11 attacks and the Gulf coast hurricanes of 2005, Kevin A. Hassett, R. Glenn Hubbard, Norman J. Ornstein, and Newt Gingrich have given special attention to the government’s response to terrorist attacks and natural disasters. Roger Bate studies the performance of the U.S. Agency for International Development. AEI also conducted a major assessment of the 2007 Farm Bill debate and the long-term direction of U.S. agricultural policies, led by researchers Bruce Gardner and Daniel A. Sumner. In May 2007, AEI hosted an all-day conference to release this project's findings and policy recommendations, which are now posted on our website. Visiting scholar Richard Burkhauser investigates how public policies affect the economic behavior and well-being of vulnerable populations. He is working on a monograph on U.S. disability insurance policy.
Social Welfare
AEI’s current research on social welfare and welfare policy focuses on state welfare and Medicaid policy reforms under the federal Welfare Reform Act of 1996; the effectiveness of federal nutrition, rehabilitation, and vocational training programs; and private and community efforts to restore the social and economic fabric of inner-city communities. Douglas J. Besharov and Nicholas Eberstadt are leading a project designed to examine the measurement and true definition of poverty by assessing alternative measures of income, consumption, and other indicators of material well-being. Mr. Besharov is also conducting several studies on topics such as marriage, coresidency, and cohabitation as avenues off welfare; and the impact of welfare reform on child care, work programs, food stamps, and health insurance. In October 2007, Mr. Besharov released a major new study that reveals the true cost of government-sponsored early childhood education and care. Mr. Eberstadt is working on a monograph to be published this year, titled, The Poverty of "The Poverty Rate": Measure and Mismeasure of Material Deprivation in Modern America.
Education
AEI’s Education Policy Program conducts original research on key issues of immediate importance in education reform, such as the No Child Left Behind Act, school financing and parental choice, educational accountability, curricular standards, teacher collective bargaining, and college financial aid. It also seeks out ways to "emancipate" education by encouraging American innovation to develop solutions to the sector's long-term challenges. In August, Frederick M. Hess released Educational Entrepreneurship: Realities, Challenges, Possibilities, which examines the barriers inhibiting school choice. In 2007, Mr. Hess launched AEI's Education Outlook, a publication that addresses the most important current issues in education policy. His latest Outlook is entitled "Fulfilling the Promise of School Choice." Additionally, Mr. Hess recently edited When Research Matters: How Scholarship Influences Education Policy. Lynne V. Cheney writes and lectures on classroom instruction and curricular standards reform. Douglas J. Besharov is conducting studies on preschool education as a factor in early childhood development, on career and technical education as an alternative to college, and on the effects of college financial aid formulas. Last month, Charles Murray released his provocative new book, Real Education: Four Simple truths for Bringing American Schools Back to Reality (Random House, 2008). This work takes a critical look at the American educational system and proposes major reform. Mr. Murray spoke at a number of public events to commemorate the book's release.
Other sections of AEI's current research highlights:
