Our Vision

Advance the understanding and progress of a free, prosperous, and civil society through sound interdisciplinary research, education and talent development, and application in the humane sciences that integrate theory and practice.

Our Mission

Build a highly credible and effective scholarly research and outreach center that:

  • Exemplifies a republic of science;

  • Develops and applies a science of liberty;

  • Identifies and persuasively communicates the essential elements of a free, flourishing, and peaceful society to decision makers and opinion-shapers; and

  • Discovers which social, political, and legal arrangements are helpful and harmful, develops effective solutions where needed, and works with people able and potentially willing to advance positive change.

Our Principles

 

Integrity.

Respect.

Humility and intellectual honesty.

Commitment to mission drives action and measurement.

Scientific method and pursuit of truth over dogmatism and partisanship.

Embrace challenge and openness.

Mercatus and Social Change

Our theory of how social change occurs is adapted from Hayek’s model of the structure of production of social change; ideas are the intellectual raw material needed by organizations and change agents to produce and implement improved public policy and foster a culture of freedom.