We work extensively on both state and national policy, focusing on issues that other groups tend to neglect. Our specialty is in tackling issues that are complex, but don’t necessarily grab major headlines. These are the areas where we think we can have a real impact.
Civil Society, Education and Work
R Street’s program on Civil Society, Education and Work studies the building blocks of society and governing, including localism, federalism, social capital, tradition, philanthropy and mediating institutions. It produces research, analysis and commentary to inform policymakers’ work on a range of domestic policies. Our initiatives have a particular focus on schools and workforce training as essential contributors to America’s effort to form citizens, workers, and public leaders. See our case studies here.
Competition Policy
R Street’s Competition Policy program addresses government barriers that hurt businesses and people. Generally, we support market-oriented policy solutions that enhance free enterprise, consumer choice and public well-being. To this end, our team focuses primarily on occupational licensing, alcohol policy, shipping and postal policy, health care disintermediation and regulatory reform.
Coronavirus Policy Implications
As America handles COVID-19, we hope to provide some valuable policy insights with regard to managing the virus. Our public health experts, regulatory experts, and other scholars will provide policy ideas and commentary on the policy implications of Coronavirus.
Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties
R Street’s Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties Policy program produces research and commentary on public policy related to all stages of the justice system: policing, pretrial policy, sentencing, incarceration, juvenile justice and reentry. We work across the ideological spectrum to provide policymakers with reforms that prioritize human dignity, public safety, due process, individual liberty and fiscal responsibility.
Cybersecurity and Emerging Threats
The Cybersecurity and Emerging Threats department serves as the locus for R Street’s work on cybersecurity threats to national, state, and private sector organizations, the international balance of powers, military strategy, and other emerging national security issues.
Featured Work:
Considerations for Structure of the Bureau of Cyber Statistics Hack the Plant ICS Village Covert Deception, Strategic Fraud, and The Rule of Prohibited Intervention Resources for Measuring Cybersecurity 5G and Zero Trust Networks Making Space & CyberBase
Energy
R Street’s Energy program seeks to advance a cleaner environment and a thriving economy through principles of market competition, limited government and well-founded science.
Federal Government Affairs
Our federal government affairs work spans our institutional policy areas and takes the form of testimony, vote alerts, blog posts, op-eds, coalition letters and more. We engage with congress and executive agencies to promote pragmatic, free-market solutions to the most pressing national policy challenges.
Finance and Trade
R Street’s finance and trade policy programs explore efficient and effective market-based approaches to public policy questions that involve financial services and free trade. Among its priorities are sound money, public fiscal crises, the expansion of bilateral and multilateral trade agreements and placing government-sponsored enterprises on equal footing with other financial institutions.
Governance
We aim to assess and improve America’s national system of self-governance, with a focus on Congress. We research and disseminate solutions to lawmaking, judicial and electoral issues, including topics such as science and budget policy. We are strong proponents of strengthening Congress’s Article One powers and modernizing the legislative branch.
CURRENT WORK
Restoring the First Branch
Congress is the first branch of government and the “people’s branch,” but it is also where many of our nation’s governance problems come from. We work to defend and restore the powers delegated to the branch closest to the people, with original research and coalitions work like the Power of the Purse network.
Judicial Governance
An independent and robust judiciary is a cornerstone of our democracy. But in recent years, we have seen a fracturing of our political norms, leading to an increased cynicism of the judiciary’s role in our government. We fill an important role in discussing the role of the third branch, identifying positive reforms, and cautioning against attempts to politicize or undermine the judiciary for political gain.
Improving Transparency and Oversight
Independent oversight and accountability has never been more important to identifying governmental abuse and waste. To that end, we urge Congress to provide key oversight institutions, such as inspectors general (IG) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO)—the resources they need to maintain a watchful eye on our oversized federal government. But we need more than just sufficient funding to maintain these core functions: IGs and whistleblowers need enhanced protections, Congress needs clearly defined accountability tools, and everyone needs more open access to the data about where and how our tax dollars are being spent.
Budget Process Reform
The most basic and essential way for Congress to take back its Power of the Purse and exert federal oversight is through the practice of enacting a budget. We advocate for budget process reform and intelligent spending restraint so that limited resources are spent wisely and government waste is curtailed.
Electoral Reform
Free and fair elections have never been more important and have never been more at risk. Large swaths of Americans have begun to support restricted voting rights and many elected officials are committed to carrying out those wishes. Our electoral reform work stands as a bulwark against these trends with original research and writing on bipartisan, common-sense electoral reform.
Harm Reduction
R Street’s Harm Reduction program aims for integrated harm reduction with tobacco, opioid and sexual behavior as central elements. We believe that “abstinence only” approaches to risky behaviors will not work on a population-wide basis. As such, we emphasize harm-reduction approaches that accept that harmful behavior may continue even as we seek to mitigate – if not eliminate – the harms involved. Read our theory of change about the future of integrated harm reduction.
Insurance
R Street’s insurance policy program explores efficient and effective market-based approaches to public policy questions that involve the transfer of risk. Among its priorities are risk-based insurance regulation, ending environmentally destructive taxpayer subsidies through the National Flood Insurance Program and the Federal Crop Insurance Corp. and exploring the benefits of mitigation through programs like the RESTORE Act and the Coastal Barrier Resources System.
State Policy
We work extensively on both state and national policy, focusing on issues that other groups tend to neglect. Our specialty is in tackling issues that are complex, but don’t necessarily grab major headlines. These are the areas where we think we can have a real impact.
Technology and Innovation
R Street’s Technology and Innovation policy program conducts research and advocacy around the public policy frameworks that govern both established and emerging technologies. Our goal is to push back against laws and regulations that impede economic progress or individual liberty, and to advance policy solutions that allow technology to move at the speed of innovation.