Government and Politics

Restoring Responsible Government by Cutting Federal Aid to the States

The federal government has a large presence in state and local policy activities such as education, housing, and transportation.That presence is facilitated by “grants-in-aid” programs, which are subsidies to state and local governments accompanied by top-down regulations. In a new paper, Cato scholar Chris Edwards argues that the aid system produces irresponsible policymaking, and discusses numerous reasons why it is better to fund state activities with state revenues rather than with aid from Washington.

How Markets Empower Women: Innovation and Market Participation Transform Women’s Lives for the Better

Over the last 200 years, economic progress has helped to bring about both dramatically better standards of living and the extension of individual dignity to women in the developed world. Today the same story of market-driven empowerment is repeating itself in developing countries. In a new paper, Cato scholar Chelsea Follett illustrates how innovation and market participation enable women to achieve greater material prosperity and promote positive cultural change away from sexism.

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

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Of Special Note

The Inclusive Economy: How to Bring Wealth to America’s Poor

The Inclusive Economy: How to Bring Wealth to America's Poor

The Inclusive Economy: How to Bring Wealth to America’s Poor energetically challenges the conventional wisdom of both the right and the left that underlies much of the contemporary debate over poverty and welfare policy. Author and national public policy expert Michael Tanner takes to task conservative critiques of a “culture of poverty” for their failure to account for the structural circumstances in which the poor live. In addition, he criticizes liberal calls for fighting poverty primarily through greater redistribution of wealth and new government programs.

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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.

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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.

Sphere Summit: Teaching Civic Culture Together

For more than four decades, the Cato Institute has introduced people, including millions of young people, to the ideas of freedom. Many Cato books are already taught in high school curricula across the country. To advance the ideas of liberal democracy and the rule of law, Cato has developed the Sphere Summit for educators. The opening Summit seminar, “Teaching Civic Culture Together,” will be held at the Cato Institute in Washington, DC, on July 14–18, 2019.