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The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank located in Washington, D.C., is an influential public policy research institute whose stated mission is to "formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense." Heritage's operations have transformed the traditional concept of the "think tank" and have had a significant impact on the domestic and foreign policies of the United States government.

Founded in 1973, Heritage's initial funding came from political conservative Joseph Coors, owner of the Coors Brewing Company. Conservative activist Paul Weyrich was its first head. Since 1974, Heritage's president has been Edwin Feulner, Jr., previously the staff director of the House Republican Study Committee and a former staff assistant to Congressman Phil Crane (R-IL).

Until 2001, the Heritage Foundation published Policy Review, a public policy journal, which was then acquired by the Hoover Institution.

History and major initiatives

Mandate for Leadership

The Heritage Foundation is known for the wide-ranging and influential nature of its work. Its 1981 book of policy analysis, "Mandate for Leadership," revolutionized the character of public policy advice-giving. At 1000-plus pages, it offered specific recommendations on policy, budget and administrative action for all Cabinet departments and many agencies to be staffed by political appointees in the incoming conservative administration of President Ronald Reagan.

Cold War and foreign policy involvement

In the 1980s and early 1990s, the Heritage Foundation was a key architect and advocate of the Reagan Doctrine, by which the United States government channeled overt and covert support to anti-Communist resistance movements in such places as Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia and Nicaragua and generally supported global anti-communism during the Cold War.

Heritage foreign policy analysts didn't restrict themselves to research, but became active in efforts to provide political and military guidance to rebel forces in Angola, Cambodia, and Nicaragua, and to dissidents in Eastern bloc nations and Soviet republics.

The foundation was instrumental in advancing President Ronald Reagan's belief that the former Soviet Union was an "evil empire" and that its defeat, not its mere containment, was a realistic foreign policy objective. Heritage also played a key role in building support for Reagan's plans to build an orbital ballistic missile shield, the "Strategic Defense Initiative".

Since the end of the Cold War, Heritage has been an active voice in foreign affairs. In Denmark, it is acting as tax communication consultants to the country's conservative government, where the foundation has helped advocate in support of a flat-tax policy.

Free market domestic policies

In domestic policy, Heritage is a proponent of supply-side economics, which holds that reductions in the marginal rate of taxation can spur economic growth. Internationally, and in partnership with the Wall Street Journal, Heritage publishes the annual Index of Economic Freedom, which measures a country's freedom in terms of property rights and freedom from government regulation. The factors used to calculate the Index score are corruption in government, barriers to international trade, income tax and corporate tax rates, government expenditures, rule of law and the ability to enforce contracts, regulatory burdens, banking restrictions, labor regulations, and black market activities. Deficiencies lower the score on Heritage's Index.

In 1994, Heritage advised Newt Gingrich and other conservatives in the development of the Contract with America, which was credited with helping sweep Republicans into leadership in Congress. The "Contract" was a pact of principles that directly challenged both the political status-quo in Washington and also many of the ideas that were at the heart of the Clinton administration at the time. As such, while Heritage is officially non-partisan, it often is credited with supplying many of the ideas that ultimately proved hugely influential in ending the Democrats' control of Congress.

Policy influence

Unlike traditional think tanks, which tend to house scholars and politicians-in-exile who produce large books, Heritage tends to employ public policy analysts who produce comparatively shorter policy papers intended to pass what Heritage calls "the briefcase test" for busy politicians to read on the run. Heritage also pioneered the "marketing" of policy ideas by astute packaging and public relations, now a staple feature of Washington think tank activity. The result is that many consider Heritage the most influential think tank in the United States.

Although Heritage is just over 30 years old, it has earned a major place among Washington think tanks. Similar think tanks include the American Enterprise Institute and the libertarian Cato Institute. Heritage's liberal counterparts include the Brookings Institution and the Center for American Progress. In keeping with its emphasis on political accessibility, Heritage maintains its eight-story headquarters on Capitol Hill, a short walk from the United States Congress; most other think-tanks maintain offices elsewhere in Washington.

Many Heritage Foundation personnel have held, or gone on to hold, influential roles in American business and government, including Richard V. Allen, L. Paul Bremer, Elaine Chao, Lawrence Di Rita, Michael Johns, John F. Lehman, Edwin Meese, and others*.

Financial support

Though it boasts considerable clout on Capitol Hill, the Heritage Foundation does not lobby. Like all other policy advocacy groups, left and right, this allows Heritage to retain tax-exempt status as a charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. In 2004 Heritage raised $29.7 million in corporate and individual donations. Core funding comes from conservative foundations and individual donors: In 1995, 31 checks accounted for $8.5 million; another 123 donors supplied $2.6 million.

Richard Mellon Scaife

In 1973, beer baron Joseph Coors contributed a quarter-million dollars to launch The Heritage Foundation. Since then, money has come from the founders of Amway Corp. and right-leaning foundations like the Bradley, Olin and Scaife foundations. Billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife and other wealthy philanthropists have been generous Heritage Foundation donors.

Large corporations

Heritage has received a long and steady flow of support from nearly 100 major corporations, including Chase Manhattan Bank, Dow Chemical Company, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Mobil, Procter & Gamble, and GlaxoSmithKline.*

Asian support and relations

Heritage's latest annual report acknowledges a $400,000 grant from the Korean conglomerate Samsung. And another donor, the Korea Foundation, which conduits money from the South Korean government, has given Heritage almost $1 million in the past three years.

The Hong Kong consulting firm Belle Haven Consultants, which has paid millions of dollars to Washington lobbying firms such as Alexander Strategy Group on behalf of Malaysian interests, was founded in 1997 by Edwin Feulner and Heritage's Asian specialist Ken Sheffer. Belle Haven employed Feulner's wife Linda and is based in the same office as Heritage's Hong Kong office.*

External links

1974 establishments | Bradley Foundation | Conservative organizations in the United States | New Right (United States) | Political and economic think tanks | Think tanks

Heritage Foundation | Heritage Foundation | Heritage Foundation | Heritage Foundation | ヘリテージ財団 | 美国传统基金会

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Heritage Foundation".

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