The Goldwater Institute is a Phoenix, Arizona-based public policy think-tank established in 1988. The president is Darcy A. Olsen. The Goldwater Institute advances public policies with emphasis on lower taxes, limited government spending, school choice, and a reduction in government management of the economy. It describes itself as "an independent, nonpartisan research and educational organization dedicated to the study of public policy in Arizona," and it is devoted to the principles championed by the late Senator Barry Goldwater such as "individual rights, economic freedom, and a government of strictly limited powers." Today the Goldwater Institute has a staff of 12 and a 2005 budget slightly over $1.4 million. In addition, the Goldwater Institute has a number of affiliated senior fellows who are not in residence, including Carrie Lukas, Dan Lips, Randy Barnett, Dr. James Gwartney, Alan Kors, and Gordon Tullock.
Financial support
The Institute's funding comes from private foundations and from hundreds of individual Arizonans. The Institute does not accept government funds. Its 2005 revenues were just under $1.5 million.
Issues
On education reform, the Goldwater Institute has published articles critical of the AIMS standardized test, critical of the No Child Left Behind Act, in favor of school vouchers for higher education, and opposed to bilingual education.
On economic policy, the Goldwater Institute has published articles favoring supply-side economics, popularized by Arthur Laffer, tax cuts, and spending reductions.
On constitutional policy, the Goldwater Institute has been critical of Arizona's Clean Elections system and campaign finance reform in general and has criticized government abuse of eminent domain power.
The Goldwater Institute opposes government bans on the use of tobacco in public establishments.
Litigation Center
The Goldwater Institute created the Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation, directed by Clint Bolick, in June 2007. The Center for Constitutional Litigation will engage in lawsuits against the government to ensure adherence to constitutional law and to protect individual rights, such as property rights, from potential government intrusion. The Goldwater filed its first case on June 22, 2007 defending five charter schools from Arizona's department of education.[1]
Currently the Goldwater Institute has two lawsuits against government bodies in Arizona. The first, Charter School v. Horne is a suit against the Arizona Department of Education's social studies mandate.[2]. In the second lawsuit the Goldwater Institute is suing the city of Phoenix over a $100 million corporate subsidy which the Goldwater Institute claims is illegal under the Arizona constitution.[3]