The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is dedicated to preserving and strengthening the foundations of freedom--limited government, private enterprise, vital cultural and political institutions, and a strong foreign policy and national defense--through scholarly research, open debate, and publications. Founded in 1943 and located in Washington, D.C., AEI is one of America's largest and most respected "think tanks." [ Read the full history of the Institute .]

AEI research covers economics  and trade ; social welfare ; government tax, spending , regulatory , and legal  policies; U.S. politics ; international affairs ; and U.S. defense and foreign policies . The Institute publishes dozens of books and hundreds of articles and reports each year, and an influential policy magazine, The American Enterprise . AEI publications are distributed widely to government officials and legislators, business executives, journalists, and academics; its conferences, seminars, and lectures are regularly covered by national television.

The Institute's fifty resident scholars and fellows  include some of America's foremost economists, legal scholars, political scientists, and foreign policy experts. The resident faculty is augmented by a network of more than one hundred adjunct scholars at universities and policy institutes throughout the United States and abroad. AEI scholars testify  frequently before congressional committees, provide expert consultation to all branches of government, and are cited and reprinted in the national media more often than those of any other think tank.