The Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) is a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

-based

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

and

advocacy group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the developm ...

. Founded in 1976, the group describes itself as "dedicated to applying the

Judeo-Christian The term Judeo-Christian is used to group Christianity and Judaism together, either in reference to Christianity's derivation from Judaism, Christianity's borrowing of Jewish Scripture to constitute the "Old Testament" of the Christian Bible, or ...

moral tradition to critical issues of public policy", and advocacy of founding principles such as the rule of law. The EPPC is active in a number of ways, including hosting lectures and conferences, publishing written work from the group’s scholars, and running programs, which are intended to explore areas of public concern and interest. Since February 2021, EPPC's president is

Ryan T. Anderson Ryan Timothy Anderson (born 1981) is an Conservatism in the United States, American conservative political philosopher who is best known for his opposition to same-sex marriage. He is currently president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. H ...

, who previously worked as the William E. Simon Senior Research Fellow at

The Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (abbreviated to Heritage) is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that is primarily geared toward public policy. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the presiden ...

. He succeeded Edward Whelan, who serves as EPPC's vice president, and also holds the title of distinguished senior fellow and Antonin Scalia Chair in Constitutional Studies.

George Weigel George Weigel (born 1951) is a Catholic neoconservative American author, political analyst, and social activist. He currently serves as a Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Weigel was the Founding President of the ...

, Catholic theologian and papal biographer, is also a distinguished senior fellow. EPPC is a qualified

501(c)(3) organization A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of t ...

.Hoover’s Online. Ethics and Public Policy Center. Retrieved April 17, 2012 from Hoover's Online

History

EPPC was founded in 1976 by

Ernest W. Lefever Ernest Warren Lefever (November 12, 1919 – July 29, 2009) was an American political theorist and foreign affairs expert who founded the Ethics and Public Policy Center in 1976 and was nominated for a State Department post by President Ronal ...

, an American political theorist. He was nominated in 1981 for a

US State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

position by US President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

before ultimately being rejected for the opportunity for his controversial background. He served as president of EPPC until 1989 and continued to write scholarly articles for EPPC until his death in 2009. Lefever said upon founding the institute that "a small ethically oriented center" should "respond directly to ideological critics who insist the corporation is fundamentally unjust." EPPC's website states that the organization works "to apply the riches of the Judeo-Christian tradition to contemporary questions of law, culture, and politics, in pursuit of America’s continued civic and cultural renewal." From 2003 to 2018, EPPC published '' The New Atlantis: A Journal of Technology and Society''. In January 2018, The New Atlantis became independent of EPPC and is now published by the Center for the Study of Technology and Society.

Members

As of May 2021, there were more than thirty scholars listed on EPPC's "Fellows and Scholars" page. They include former EPPC presidents Ed Whelan and

. Other noted scholars include

Stanley Kurtz Stanley Kurtz is an American conservative commentator, author and a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He has taught at Harvard University and the University of Chicago. He is also a contributing editor to ''National Review''. Ca ...

Lance Morrow Lance Morrow (born September 21, 1939, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American essayist and writer, chiefly for ''Time'' magazine, as well as the author of several books. He won the 1981 National Magazine Award for Essay and Criticism and was ...

Roger Severino Roger Thomas Severino is an American attorney who served as the director of the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) at the United States Department of Health and Human Services from 2017 to 2021. He is currently a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public ...

, and

Carl Trueman Carl R. Trueman (born 1967) is a Christian theologian and ecclesiastical historian. He was Professor of Historical Theology and Church History at Westminster Theological Seminary, where he held the Paul Woolley Chair of Church History. In 2018 T ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Organizations established in 1976 Ethics organizations Charities based in Washington, D.C. Conservative organizations in the United States Advocacy groups in the United States