The Civitas Institute, Inc. (Civitas) is a

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southe ...

-based conservative

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 ...

History

Civitas was incorporated on March 9, 2005. Initial members of the board of directors included the first president of the organization, R. Jack Hawke; businessman Robert Luddy; and

Art Pope James Arthur Pope (born May 5, 1956) is an American businessman, attorney and former government official. Pope is the owner, chairman and CEO of Variety Wholesalers, a group of 370 retail stores in 16 states. He is also the president and chairm ...

, a businessman, political figure and philanthropist. Pope resigned from the Civitas board in December 2012 to serve as Deputy Budget Director in the administration of Governor

Pat McCrory Patrick Lloyd McCrory (born October 17, 1956) is an American businessman, politician and radio host who served as the 74th governor of North Carolina from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 53rd Mayor ...

. The organization's name honors Art Pope's father, John William Pope, also a businessman and conservative philanthropist.

Activities and advocacy

In late 2012, Civitas commissioned a study on the effects of lowering or eliminating state income taxes. In July 2013, the legislature passed and the governor signed into law lower corporate and personal income tax rates. The organization has also called for elimination of North Carolina's state

corporate income tax A corporate tax, also called corporation tax or company tax, is a direct tax imposed on the income or capital of corporations or analogous legal entities. Many countries impose such taxes at the national level, and a similar tax may be imposed at ...

. A Civitas study of the State Board of Elections led Civitas to call on top state officials for an investigation of the board and its ties to a lobbyist. In 2013, Civitas launched a website to attack the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...

, portraying the health care reform legislation as an assault by elites against middle-class North Carolinians. Civitas has repeatedly sued the State of North Carolina over the

same-day voter registration In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise eligible to vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted to vote. The ru ...

process, which Civitas opposes.Richard Craver
Civitas renews same-day registration challenge over NC election results
''Winston-Salem Journal'' (January 1, 2017).Colin Campbell & Lynn Bonner

''Charlotte Observer'' (November 23, 2016). A suit filed by Civitas seeking to halt the final count of votes in the

2016 North Carolina gubernatorial election The 2016 North Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2016, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate and elections to the United States House of Representatives a ...

was dismissed in December 2016, but the organization subsequently renewed its litigation. Civitas commissions live-caller

opinion polling An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...

of North Carolina voters. Civitas also advocates for increased school choice for students in North Carolina.

Events

The annual Conservative Leadership Conference offers conservative speakers and workshops on relevant issues. CLC speakers have included

Charles Krauthammer Charles Krauthammer (; March 13, 1950 – June 21, 2018) was an American political columnist. A moderate liberal who turned independent conservative as a political pundit, Krauthammer won the Pulitzer Prize for his columns in ''The Washingt ...

Arthur C. Brooks Arthur C. Brooks (born May 21, 1964) is an American author, public speaker, and academic. Brooks served as the 11th President of the American Enterprise Institute. He is the author of twelve books, including ''Love Your Enemies'' (2019), The ''Co ...

, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Barnes, Stephen Moore,

Elizabeth Dole Mary Elizabeth Alexander Hanford Dole (née Hanford; born July 29, 1936)Mary Ella Cathey Hanford, "Asbury and Hanford Families: Newly Discovered Genealogical Information" ''The Historical Trail'' 33 (1996), pp. 44–45, 49. is an American attorn ...

, Michael Barone, Bob Novak,

Grover Norquist Grover Glenn Norquist (born October 19, 1956) is an American political activist and tax reduction advocate who is founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform, an organization that opposes all tax increases. A Republican, he is the primar ...

, and others. The 2013 CLC featured speakers such as U.S. Senator

Ron Johnson Ronald Harold Johnson (born April 8, 1955) is an American accountant, businessman, and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Wisconsin, a seat he has held since 2011. A Republican, Johnson was first elected to the U.S. S ...

Michelle Malkin Michelle Malkin (; Maglalang; born October 20, 1970) is an American conservative political commentator. She was a Fox News contributor and in May 2020 joined Newsmax TV. Malkin has written seven books and founded the conservative websites Tw ...

, former U.S. Sen.

Jim DeMint James Warren DeMint (born September 2, 1951) is an American political advocate, businessman, author, and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from South Carolina and as president of the Heritage Foundation. DeMint is a member ...

, former U.S. Rep.

Artur Davis Artur Genestre Davis (; born October 9, 1967) is an American attorney and former politician who served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives for from 2003 to 2011. He was also a candidate for the Democratic nomina ...

, U.S. Reps.

Renee Ellmers Renee Louise Ellmers ( Jacisin; born February 9, 1964) is an American registered nurse and politician who was the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2017. She is a member of the Republican Party. Ellmers defeated seven-term Democratic incum ...

and

George Holding George Edward Bell Holding (born April 17, 1968) is an American politician, lawyer, and former federal prosecutor who is a former United States Representative for North Carolina's 2nd congressional district from 2017 to 2021. He previously repr ...

, talk-show host Jason Lewis, Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner, and Lt. Gov.

Dan Forest Dan Forest (born October 15, 1967) is an American politician who served as the 34th lieutenant governor of North Carolina from 2013 to 2021. He is the son of former congresswoman Sue Myrick. An architect by trade, he was the Republican nominee ...

. Civitas hosts a monthly lunch series to announce poll findings and offer commentary on issues.

Publications

The Civitas Institute publishes a monthly newspaper, the ''Civitas Capitol Connection'', an internet magazine, the ''Civitas Review'' and the ''Civitas Blog''. The Civitas Institute has published a number of pieces online critical of the

Moral Mondays Moral Mondays are protests that originated in North Carolina, United States and emerged elsewhere in the United States. Led by religious progressives, the leaders of the protesters sought to restore "morality" in the public sphere. Protests began ...

protests. In one article, ''William Barber Rakes in Taxpayer Dollars Leads Moral (no it is) Money Mondays!'' the Civitas Institute criticized Rev. William Barber, head of the state's NAACP, because a non-profit overseen by Barber's church received federal support. Barber responded, stating "People know I'm a volunteer, even with the NAACP. Other work I do, I volunteer. I am a pastor." The Civitas Institute also released a web page which compiles data on protestors arrested in the course of the civil disobedience actions, which includes demographic information and comments on their voter registration status.

References

External links