The Century Foundation

The Century Foundation
Name	The Century Foundation
Type	Think tank
Founded	1919
Founder	Edgar Gardner Murphy; reorganized by Walter Lippmann
Headquarters	New York City
Leader title	President

The Century Foundation is an American public-policy think tank established in 1919 that has focused on progressive policy research and advocacy throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Founded in the aftermath of World War I and the Progressive Era, the organization has engaged in debates over New Deal reforms, Great Society programs, and contemporary fiscal and social policy. Its work has intersected with prominent institutions and figures including the Brookings Institution, Ford Foundation, John Maynard Keynes, and numerous members of the United States Congress.

History

The organization traces roots to intellectual currents shaped by figures such as Walter Lippmann and reformers of the Progressive Era, linking to networks that included National Consumers League, Hull House, and the Settlement movement. During the 1920s and 1930s the foundation’s orientations paralleled debates around the New Deal, the Social Security Act, and responses to Great Depression. Mid‑century engagements connected the foundation to discussions at Columbia University, Harvard University, and policy circles around presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Lyndon B. Johnson. In the late twentieth century the organization navigated changes in funding and influence alongside institutions such as the Heritage Foundation and American Enterprise Institute, while scholars linked to the foundation contributed to debates during the administrations of Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.

Mission and Activities

The foundation articulates a mission emphasizing progressive reform, social justice, and evidence-based policy development, positioning itself among organizations like Urban Institute, Economic Policy Institute, and Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Activities include producing research briefs, convening panels with academics from Princeton University, Yale University, and Stanford University, and advising lawmakers in the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives. The foundation also engages in public outreach through events at venues including The New School, Brooklyn College, and collaborations with advocacy groups such as ACLU and NAACP.

Policy Areas

The foundation has focused on issues that overlap with key twentieth- and twenty‑first‑century policy debates. Notable areas include social insurance and retirement policy linked to the Social Security Act; health-care policy connected to debates around Medicare and Affordable Care Act implementation; higher education and student finance in the context of GI Bill legacies and Pell Grant reform; labor and workplace policy in relation to unions such as the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations; and fiscal and tax policy in relation to Internal Revenue Code provisions. It has also addressed civil rights and voting rights within the frameworks of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as well as criminal‑justice reform touching on cases and movements associated with Brown v. Board of Education litigators and organizations like the Sentencing Project.

Research and Publications

The foundation publishes reports, white papers, and books authored by scholars affiliated with universities and research centers including University of California, Berkeley, Georgetown University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Publications frequently analyze legislation such as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and court rulings from the United States Supreme Court. They have produced comparative studies drawing on international examples from United Kingdom welfare reforms, Nordic model analyses, and fiscal policies in Germany and Japan. Research is disseminated through seminars, congressional testimony before committees like the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee, and collaborations with journals such as The Atlantic and Foreign Affairs.

Funding and Governance

Funding historically has come from foundations, individual donors, and institutional grants, including support streams similar to those of the Ford Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and other philanthropic entities. The governance structure typically comprises a board of directors and fellows drawn from academia, law, and public service, with leaders who have served in or advised administrations from Woodrow Wilson’s successors through modern presidencies. The foundation’s governance practices intersect with nonprofit law and oversight by regulators such as the Internal Revenue Service, and it maintains relationships with university research offices and philanthropic intermediaries.

Influence and Criticism

Throughout its existence the organization has influenced policy debates on retirement, health care, education, and civil rights, with analysts noting its role alongside think tanks such as Brookings Institution and Heritage Foundation in shaping legislative language and public discourse. Critics from conservative and libertarian quarters, including commentators associated with Cato Institute and Manhattan Institute, have challenged its policy prescriptions and funding sources. Internal and external reviewers have also debated the organization’s methodological approaches compared to university peer review norms exemplified by American Political Science Association and American Economic Association. Debates about advocacy versus scholarship have paralleled critiques leveled at peer institutions during controversies involving figures from Reagan administration and subsequent policy battles.

Category:Public policy research organizations Category:Nonprofit organizations based in New York City