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
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We are dedicated to exploring the ideas and institutions that create flourishing societies.
Beyond the Border: How Extraterritorial State Laws Risk America’s AI Ambitions
True policy innovation in AI requires states to respect the boundaries of their authority and allow the freedom of movement for both people and resources that defines a truly national market.
The Trump National Security Strategy Is Good, Bad, and Ugly All at Once
Like the classic Clint Eastwood western, the Trump Administration should have titled its National Security Strategy: “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.”
U.S. Can’t Cave to Europe’s Anti-Growth Agenda
One does not have to support protectionist tariffs or protracted trade wars to see why Washington needs to continue using trade to pressure Eurocrats to give up micromanaging tech platforms and supply chains around the world.
