Cato’s government and politics studies are dedicated to bringing the ideals of individual liberty, civil society, and limited government back to the forefront of American political life.
Government and Politics
From Cato President & CEO Peter Goettler
Mob Rule Is No Path to Liberty
The Cato Institute has long worked to encourage people everywhere to better understand and appreciate the principles of government that are set forth in America’s Founding documents. Among these principles is the peaceful transfer of power after free and fair elections. The assault on the Capitol is a tragic violation of these principles. We condemn these actions in the strongest terms, support the rule of law and the Constitution, and reject the attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Featured Content
Why Did Republicans Outperform the Polls Again? Two Theories.
Some of the polling error we saw in 2020 is part of a long‐standing issue that isn’t unique just to Trump.
House Democrats Go Fox Hunting
There is no ‘fake news’ exception to the First Amendment.
Michael D. Tanner discusses federal rent assistance on The World and Everything in It
Did Republicans Inoculate Future Presidents against Impeachment?
The second impeachment trial for Donald Trump ended up considerably more bipartisan than the last one, but “Citizen Trump” was nonetheless acquitted. So, have Republicans helped set a kind‐of precedent by not issuing a conviction? Gene Healy dissects the trial.
Trump’s Ad Hoc Administrative State
If Congress remains passive, we can expect subsequent presidents to build on Trump’s model. The template is straightforward: find a capacious or implied delegation; whip together an administrative program that maximizes discretion; and recite “good cause” to escape any procedural rigor.
Featured Center
Center for Representative Government
Taking its inspiration from James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, the Cato Institute’s Center for Representative Government is dedicated to promoting limited, representative government. The Center and its scholars are working through books, conferences, forums, op‐eds, speeches, congressional testimony, and TV and radio appearances to bring the ideals of individual liberty, civil society, limited government and citizen legislators back to the forefront of American political life.
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Featured Events
Campaign Finance and American Democracy: What the Public Really Thinks and Why It Matters
Primo and Milyo contend that American attitudes toward money in politics reflect larger fears about the health of American democracy, fears that will not be allayed by campaign finance reform.
After Trump: Reconstructing the Presidency
In their timely new book, Bob Bauer and Jack Goldsmith provide a comprehensive roadmap for reforming the presidency.
A Cry from the Far Middle: Dispatches from a Divided Land
As the left and right slide further apart, intrepid journalist P. J. O’Rourke has found himself with nowhere to go but the center. In his new book, A Cry from the Far Middle: Dispatches from a Divided Land, the man who has covered wars in the Middle East, Central America, the Balkans, and other places around the world is now confronting political battles at home.