Government and Politics

Free Speech and Tolerance in America

The Cato 2017 Free Speech and Tolerance Survey, a new national poll of 2,300 U.S. adults, finds that nearly three-fourths (71%) of Americans believe that political correctness has silenced important discussions our society needs to have. The consequences are personal – 58% of Americans believe the political climate prevents them from sharing their own political beliefs. “These data show why censoring offensive speech is difficult—Americans can’t agree what speech is offensive or shouldn’t be allowed,” said Cato’s Emily Ekins. “What is deeply offensive to one person may simply be a political opinion to another. These data show that if we silence speech that any number of people find offensive, we will shut down a wide variety of important political debates.”

Cato Handbook for Policymakers, 8th Edition

The direction of public policy is far less clear than usual after an election. Almost a full year into President Trump’s new administration, we still don’t know what kind of policy will be enacted in several areas. At the Cato Institute, we stand firmly on the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution — on the bedrock American values of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace. Throughout our 40 years, we have been willing to criticize officials of both parties when they sought to take the country in another direction. The 8th Edition of the Cato Handbook for Policymakers gives concrete advice on how to promote those American values and restore government to its proper role.

Cato Studies

More Cato Studies

Of Special Note

Overcharged: Why Americans Pay Too Much For Health Care

Overcharged: Why Americans Pay Too Much For Health Care

Why is the American health care system so dysfunctional and costly? How can it be fixed? Overcharged – Why Americans Pay Too Much for Health Care, a new Cato Institute book, drills into these issues with exceptional energy and power and is the culmination of years of research by authors Charles Silver and David Hyman. Overcharged lays bare the root causes of why health care is so expensive, out of control, and operates with no apparent accountability, and then shows how subjecting our health care system to the same competitive forces that apply to the rest of the economy will result in lower costs and improved access for all.

Special! 10 Copies for $10

Cato Pocket Constitution

To encourage people everywhere to better understand and appreciate the principles of government that are set forth in America’s founding documents, the Cato Institute published this pocket-size edition.

Now Available

Home Study Resources

The Cato Institute offers a wealth of online educational audio and video resources, from self-paced guides on the ideas of liberty and the principles of economics, to exclusive, archived lectures by thinkers such as Milton Friedman and F. A. Hayek. Browse through some highlights of our collections, for personal study or for use in the classroom.

The Supreme Court: Past and Prologue
A Look at the October 2017 and 2018 Terms

The annual Constitution Day symposium, presented by Cato’s Center for Constitutional Studies, marks the day in 1787 that the Constitutional Convention finished drafting the U.S. Constitution. We celebrate that event each year with the release of the new issue of the Cato Supreme Court Review and with a day-long symposium featuring noted scholars discussing the recently concluded Supreme Court term and the important cases coming up.