Ideas for
Prosperity
Tomorrow’s leaders need better, bolder ideas about how to make our society freer and more prosperous. That’s why the Civitas Institute exists, plain and simple.
Through research, commentary, and public outreach, we explore all aspects of a free and vibrant society, including economic dynamism, individual flourishing, civic virtue, and constitutionalism.
The Civitas Institute is part of the School of Civic Leadership at the University of Texas at Austin.
Independent thought, civil discourse, free speech, reasoned deliberation and intellectual curiosity are central to our ethos.
The Civitas Institute takes its name from The University of Texas at Austin motto, Disciplina Praesidium Civitatis, a condensed Latin rendering of Mirabeau Lamar’s famous statement that a “cultivated mind is the guardian genius of democracy.”
This origin reflects both the university’s institutional heritage and the Institute’s interest in the link between knowledge and liberty.
Our history
_-_DSC08585.avif)
.avif)
We are dedicated to exploring the ideas and institutions that create flourishing societies.
Ken Burns' Egregious Omission
Ken Burns doesn’t smear the Founders, but he egregiously omits the courage and tireless work it took not only to declare independence, but to fight for it.
Remembering Ed Banfield's “The Unheavenly City"
Banfield’s most valuable work describes phenomena we have all recently noticed: the easy transition from student to activist to revolutionary to criminal.
Will State Attorneys General Allow Their Cities to Make Energy Policy?
The effort to apply state law to redress climate injuries has been spearheaded not by state officials eager to protect their home turf, but by international non-profits, NGOs, and out-of-state private law firms frequently representing local governments.
