The Political Theory Project (PTP) was an interdisciplinary research center at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

. The center has since transitioned into the university's Center for Philosophy, Politics and Economics. The center's stated mission was to "investigate the ideas and institutions that make societies free, prosperous, and fair." From its establishment in 2003 until 2021, the Project was directed by founder John Tomasi. According to Tomasi, the PTP focuses "on the interplay of democratic and market-based ideals, with a commitment to examining issues from a variety of ideological perspectives." The Project is officially nonpartisan and maintains that it is not committed "to any particular ideological orientation."

History

At inception, the Political Theory Project originally focused on offering post-doctoral researchers to pursue scholarship regarding

political theory Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, l ...

. The center grew to encompass a wider range of programing, including seminars and lecture series. Among these is the Janus Forum Lecture Series which featured speakers of contrasting viewpoints. Established in 2007, the lecture series hosted

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is ...

Steven Pinker Steven Arthur Pinker (born September 18, 1954) is a Canadian-American cognitive psychologist, psycholinguist, popular science author, and public intellectual. He is an advocate of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind. P ...

Paul Krugman Paul Robin Krugman ( ; born February 28, 1953) is an American economist, who is Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and a columnist for ''The New York Times''. In 2008, Krugman was th ...

Jeffrey Sachs Jeffrey David Sachs () (born 5 November 1954) is an American economist, academic, public policy analyst, and former director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, where he holds the title of University Professor. He is known for his work ...

, and

Glenn Greenwald Glenn Edward Greenwald (born March 6, 1967) is an American journalist, author and lawyer. In 2014, he cofounded ''The Intercept'', of which he was an editor until he resigned in October 2020. Greenwald subsequently started publishing on Substac ...

, among others. Two student publications, the ''

Brown Political Review The ''Brown Political Review'' (''BPR'') is a quarterly, student-run political magazine and website at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. It covers the politics of regional, domestic and international affairs, the political culture a ...

'' and '' Brown Journal of Philosophy, Politics and Economics'' were sponsored by the Political Theory Project.

Funding

The Project gained attention and faced criticism for its acceptance of gifts from free-market organizations and foundations. Among the groups that donated to the Project are

Atlas Network Atlas Network, formerly known as the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, is a non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization based in the United States that provides training, networking and grants for libertarian, free-market, and conservative groups ...

Searle Freedom Trust The Searle Freedom Trust is a 501(c)(3) grant-making foundation located in the United States. It was established by business executive Daniel C. Searle in 1998. As of 2017, the trust had an endowment of $141 million. Origins Searle considered h ...

, and the

Charles Koch Foundation The Koch family foundations are a group of charitable foundations in the United States associated with the family of Fred C. Koch. The most prominent of these are the Charles Koch Foundation and the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation, created b ...

. The PTP maintained that it followed a "Programming First" policy wherein donors are not given input regarding the center's activities.

People

* John Tomasi, founder and director *

Jason Brennan Jason F. Brennan (born 1979) is an American philosopher and business professor. He is currently the Robert J. and Elizabeth Flanagan Family Professor of Strategy, Economics, Ethics, and Public Policy at the McDonough School of Business at George ...

, postdoctoral associate (2006–2008), author of '' Against Democracy''

Faculty associates

David Estlund David Estlund is the Lombardo Family Professor of Philosophy at Brown University, where he has taught since 1991. He works primarily in political philosophy. Education and career Estlund earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of ...

, professor, philosophy *

Glenn Loury Glenn Cartman Loury (born September 3, 1948) is an American economist, academic, and author. He is the Merton P. Stoltz Professor of the Social Sciences and Professor of Economics at Brown University, where he has taught since 2005. At the age of ...

, professor, economics * Mark C. Suchman, professor, sociology *

Ashutosh Varshney Ashutosh Varshney (born 1957) is an Indian-born political scientist and academic. He is currently the Sol Goldman Professor of International Studies and the Social Sciences and Professor of Political Science at Brown University, where he also d ...

, professor, international studies and political science

References

{{Brown University Brown University organizations 2003 establishments in the United States Think tanks based in the United States