Heritage Foundation

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Heritage Foundation is a think tank ( think tank ), headquartered in the US federal capital Washington . The influential political research institute, whose motto is Leadership for America , in its own words pursues the promotion of “ conservative politics based on the free market economy , the minimal state , individual freedom , traditional American values and a strong national one Defense ". The way the Heritage Foundation works has fundamentally changed the traditional concept of think tanks and had a significant effect on US domestic and foreign policy .

The Foundation played a leading role in the conservative movement during the government of Ronald Reagan , whose policies were significantly influenced by the Heritage study Mandate for Leadership . Heritage retained a significant influence on US politics in later years and is considered to be one of the most influential research organizations in the United States. This influence was accordingly particularly strong during the Republican administration of George W. Bush . According to a survey by James McGann ( University of Pennsylvania ) of politicians, media people, supporters and scientists in 2018, the Heritage Foundation is one of the leading think tanks and the think tank with the greatest influence on politics worldwide.

The organization has actively campaigned for privatization , deregulation , a decline in social benefits and military preemptive strikes; it played a key role in the political development towards the Iraq war .

History and focus

The foundation was established in 1973 and was initially funded by conservative businessman Joseph Coors , owner of the Coors Brewing Company . From 1975 the billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife was the most important donor, who donated about 23 million dollars by 1998.

guide

The first president of the foundation was the conservative activist Paul Weyrich . From 1977 Edwin Feulner headed the Heritage Foundation, who was formerly chief of staff of the Republican Study Committee and before that advisor to Republican Congressman Phil Crane from Illinois . Jim DeMint was the think tank's president from 2013 to 2017 . Kay Coles James has headed the Heritage Foundation since 2017 , becoming the first woman and the first African American in this role.

The 14-strong governing body includes Edwin Meese , Justice Minister in the Reagan cabinet .

Cold War and Foreign Policy Engagement

In the 1980s, the organization was an architect and advocate of the Reagan Doctrine , which saw the US government support anti-communist resistance movements in places like Afghanistan , Angola , Cambodia, and Nicaragua, and global anti-communism in general during the Cold War . Foreign policy experts from the Heritage Foundation also provided political advice for those rebellious forces and for dissidents in Eastern Bloc nations and Soviet republics. As a bastion of the neoconservatives, the organization pursued a policy of deterrence and military armament against the Soviet Union. As early as the Cold War, its researchers demanded military superiority over their communist adversary.

The Foundation played an important role in promoting Ronald Reagan's belief that the former Soviet Union was an " evil empire " and that defeat, not just containment, was a realistic political goal. Heritage was also instrumental in expanding support for Reagan's plans to build a satellite-based defense shield against ICBMs ( Strategic Defense Initiative , or more popularly the Star Wars program).

Representatives of the Trump administration chose Heritage as a platform for foreign policy speeches, for example when announcing new strategies towards Europe or Iran.

Domestic economic policy

In domestic affairs, Heritage advocates supply-side economic policies , arguing that lowering the marginal tax rate is beneficial for economic growth. (See also: Reaganomics )

In 1994, Heritage advised conservative politicians like Newt Gingrich on the development of the Contract with America , the electoral program with which Republicans won back a majority in Congress in the 1994 midterm elections .

Heritage remained in this tradition even during the Trump administration: "We are ramping up our efforts to get them conservative policy solutions that will shrink the size of government, reform the tax code ..."

Domestic social policy

Under the Trump administration, Heritage recruited new members with the appeal: “Join the fight to drain the swamp - Donald Trump and many Republican Congressmen promised they'd drain the swamp. And Heritage is here to help them do just that! ... dismantle Obamacare, and secure our borders. "

Economic Freedom Index

Since 1995, the organization published in cooperation with the Wall Street Journal the Index of Economic Freedom (English Index of Economic Freedom ), of the degree of economic freedom in a country on the basis of property rights ( property rights ) and the extent of state regulation measures of the market. Further parameters are state corruption , restrictions on foreign trade, income and corporate tax , and the rule of law .

Attitude to environmental policy

The organization rejects climate protection measures and questions the fundamental necessity of preventive climate protection.

Personnel selection for the Trump administration

The New York Times rates the Heritage Foundation as the most influential organization in selecting high-level government officials for President Donald Trump . When Trump was elected, he had not prepared a government team ready for the transition period and takeover. The Heritage Foundation, on the other hand, had already prepared a list of around 3,000 conservative politicians and administrative employees since 2014. According to estimates by Heritage employees, several hundred of them are said to have received jobs under Trump. At least 66 of the foundation's own employees and alumni were appointed by the Trump administration. Some have held ministerial or other high-level posts, including Scott Pruitt , Betsy DeVos , Mick Mulvaney , Rick Perry, and Jeff Sessions . In addition, Heritage's Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies compiled a list of lawyers recommended for the Supreme Court . As a result, Trump announced that he would work with the Meese Center in the selection of federal judges and used the list to fill judges in the federal courts.

media

The Heritage Foundation operates the online portal The Daily Signal . The conservative news site went online in June 2014 and focuses on politics and culture from a conservative perspective.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Weisberg, Jacob. Happy Birthday, Heritage Foundation , Slate , January 9, 1998.
  2. ↑ Berkowitz, Bill. The Heritage Foundation at 35 ( Memento of the original from March 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Media Transparency , March 3, 2008. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / old.mediatransparency.org
  3. ↑ James McGann: 2018 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report p. 226 . In: TTCSP Global Go To Think Tank Index Reports . January 1, 2019 ( upenn.edu [accessed March 15, 2019]).
  4. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from July 13, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / ipsnorthamerica.net
  5. ↑ Jane Mayer: Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right. Doubleday, New York 2016, ISBN 978-0-3855-3559-5 . P. 77f.
  6. ^ The Atlantic: The First Black Woman to Lead the Heritage Foundation , December 15, 2018
  7. ↑ Kubilay Yado Arin: “The Role of Think Tanks in US Foreign Policy. From Clinton to Bush Jr. “VS Springer Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2013, ISBN 978-3-658-01043-0 .
  8. ↑ https://de.usembassy.gov/de/staerkung-des-westlichen-buendnis/
  9. ↑ https://de.usembassy.gov/de/nach-dem-abkommen-eine-neue-iran-strateg/
  10. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.heritage.org
  11. ↑ a b Jonathan Mahler: How One Conservative Think Tank Is Stocking Trump's Government . New York Times, June 20, 2018
  12. ^ Adam Liptak: Trump to Announce Slate of Conservative Federal Court Nominees. In: New York Times. May 7, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2018 .
  13. ↑ Daily Signal. Retrieved March 12, 2020 (American English).