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)
Our team
We are dedicated to exploring the ideas and institutions that create flourishing societies.
Return to the Common Law?
Andrew P. Morriss reviews a technical, but highly readable attempt to explicate how customary legal orders can govern a liberal society.
The Family Policy Symposium
How should we approach the problems of family formation and fertility decline in America?
How States Can Help Families
When it comes to daily life, states can – and should – experiment with different approaches to centering families’ needs in public policy.
