Cato on Facebook
Cato on Twitter
Cato on Google+
Cato on YouTube
Cato Mobile
Cato RSS1000 Massachusetts Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20001-5403
Phone (202) 842 0200
Fax (202) 842 3490
Contact Us
Patrick Basham
Adjunct Scholar, Center for Representative Government
Patrick Basham is founding director of the Democracy Institute and an adjunct scholar with Cato's Center for Representative Government. Prior to joining the Cato Institute, Patrick Basham served as the founding director of the Social Affairs Center at the Fraser Institute, Canada's leading free market think tank. He has edited and written on a variety of policy issues including campaign finance, term limits, and election law. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, the New York Post, the New York Daily News, Newsday, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Baltimore Sun, Canada's National Post and the Globe and Mail. Basham has also appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel, PBS, NPR, BBC, and Radio Free Europe. Basham has studied political science at the University of Houston and Cambridge University.
Media Contact: 202-789-5200
To Book a Speaking Engagement: 202-789-5226
Books and Book Chapters
Butt Out! How Philip Morris Burned Ted Kennedy, the FDA & the Anti-Tobacco Movement (April 2009)
Diet Nation: Exposing the Obesity Crusade, by John Luik, Patrick Basham, and Gio Gori (December 2006)
"Taxpayer Financing in Comparative Perspective," Chapter from Welfare For Politicians? Taxpayer Financing of Campaigns (2005).
"Does Cleanliness Lead to Competitiveness: The Failure of Maine's Experiment," by Patrick Basham and Martin Zelder, Chapter from Welfare For Politicians? Taxpayer Financing of Campaigns (2005).
Gambling with Our Future? The Costs and Benefits of Legalized Gambling, by Patrick Basham and Karen White (2002).
Cato Studies
"Uncompetitive Elections and the American Political System," by Patrick Basham and Dennis Polhill, Policy Analysis no. 547, June 30, 2005.
"Can Iraq Be Democratic?," Policy Analysis no. 505, January 5, 2004.
"Defining Democracy Down: Explaining the Campaign to Repeal Term Limits," Policy Analysis no. 490, September 30, 2003.
"This Is Reform? Predicting the Impact of the New Campaign Financing Regulations," Briefing Paper no. 78, November 20, 2002.
"Does Cleanliness Lead to Competitiveness? The Failure of Maine's Experiment with Taxpayer Financing of Campaigns," by Martin Zelder and Patrick Basham, Policy Analysis no. 456, October 16, 2002.
Articles and Newsletters
"Is the Obesity Epidemic Exaggerated? Yes," by Patrick Basham and John Luik, British Medical Journal, February 2, 2008.
Opinion and Commentary
"Fearmongering Won't Make Us Healthier," by Patrick Basham and John Luik, New York Daily News, January 31, 2012
"Let the Boss Decide What to Do," The New York Times (Online), November 29, 2011
"David Cameron's Unpalatable Nannying," by Patrick Basham and John Luik, Spiked (Online), October 11, 2011
"New Normal of Intrusion," The Hill, September 8, 2011
"Plain Packaging Policy Disguised as Science, but Where's the Proof?," Australian, August 13, 2011
Events
"Incumbents, Uncompetitive Elections and American Democracy," June 30, 2005 [Capitol Hill Briefing]
Multimedia
Patrick Basham discusses his recent article about fear-mongering on WSPD's Brian Wilson and the Afternoon Drive (February 1, 2012) [Media Highlights - Radio, 16:45]
Patrick Basham discusses obesity & government policy on WBT's Money Talk with Bob Brinker (January 22, 2012) [Media Highlights - Radio, 09:57]
Patrick Basham discusses prospects for Libyan democracy on The Charles Adler Show (August 25, 2011) [Media Highlights - Radio, 03:37]
Patrick Basham discusses graphic smoking ads on the covers of cigarette boxes on WPR's The Joy Cardin Show (June 23, 2011) [Media Highlights - Radio, 16:51]
Patrick Basham discusses President Obama's European tour on BBC Radio (June 2, 2011) [Media Highlights - Radio, 04:41]
Feeds for Cato events: