Calvert Institute for Policy Research

Human Events, Oct 16, 1998 by D'Agostino, Joseph A

"The question: How can energized citizens and advocates of small government ensure they are heard? The answer: By developing and sharing ideas. By getting the word out. The growth of state-based, public-policy institutions (PPIs) over the past few years has been great. From a handful of early organizations, an aggressive movement has grown. Active state PPIs have been established in over 30 states. Until now, Maryland has not been one of them." This is how the Calvert Institute for Policy Research explained its creation.

Like its dozens of brethren, Baltimorebased Calvert works out of the national media spotlight to advance conservative principles on the state level, where government continues to expand just as it continues to grow in Washington, D.C. And like most of them, it does not lobby or work to elect candidates.

Rather, as the institute explains, "Richard M. Weaver once said, `Ideas have consequences.' He was right. The regeneration of concepts of responsible government is vital. For without the ideas of informed people, there is often a tendency for government to aggrandize itself, for the voice of the citizen to be stilled.

"Politicians are generally not philosophers. They usually reflect public opinionthey don't make it What is key is that the opinion they reflect must be the right opinion. This is why it is so important to invest in ideas as well as representation. Change public opinion, and the politicians will soon fall into line. The Calvert Institute is in the `ideas business: "

Douglas Munro, executive director of the institute, got the idea to found it after doing some work for a Wisconsin public policy foundation while continuing to live in Maryland. "I wanted the same thing here," he told HuMAN EvEns. Maryland is a liberal, Democrat-dominated state, but, he hopes, perhaps not for long.

"The Democratic Party rose to prominence in this state for the same reasons it did in the rest of the South," Munro said. Its Democratic domination has lasted longer because, he explained, "of all the Southern states, Maryland is the most industrialized. There is an extremely strong pro-union force here that really has no match in the rest of the South." Not only that, he said, but the "civil servants who live in the suburbs of Washington" tilt the state to the left.

But as population growth in Maryland takes place outside the liberal areas of the state, and residents flee Baltimore for that city's suburbs, "The state could be ready for realignment soon," Munro said optimistically. The near-success of conservative Republican Ellen Sauerbrey in her bid for governor in 1994 and her very possible victory this year is evidence of this trend.

Munro wants any influx of conservatives into the capitol in Annapolis to have ideas and research at hand. "'The great divide in the conservative world is between the libertarian world and the social conservatives," Munro said. "Because the conservative movement in Maryland is in such a precarious position, we focus on issues that tend to unify those groups, not divide them."

Those issues include school choice, tax cuts and waste in government. Last spring Calvert released a report bashing Baltimore's city government for spending excessively and employing more personnel for city services than cities of comparable size and demographics. It generated a flurry of press coverage and much criticism from city offcials.

"Nevertheless, we do not dismiss the report out of hand;' wrote William Brown, Baltimore director of finance, in an op-ed for the Baltimore Sun. "Though it is clearly flawed, it usefully points out that savings may be possible by reducing the city's work force through increased efficiencies and privatization."

This sort of "taking notice" is what Calvert wants to come of its latest project, the Complaints Department. The institute has collected the names and contact information for hundreds of Maryland officials so that ordinary citizens can complain about and comment on their government to the right people. This "is the thing I'm most proud of," Munro said. "We're the first state think tank to draw up such a project"

The nonprofit Calvert Institute is named after Maryland's founder, Lord Calvert, a believer in minimal government Founded in April 1995 by Munro and Dr. Ronald Dworkin, the institute focuses on producing papers, reports and articles proposing conservative solutions to liberal Maryland's problems. Munro divides his time between the institute and running a local program providing private school tuition scholarships to poor children.

Munro pointed to grants from the Atlas, Roe and other foundations as the institute's primary means of support. "Businesses are afraid to help us," Munro said. "They fear retribution from [Democratic Gov.Parris] Glendening. It's incredible." Maybe Sauerbrey will change that.

The Calvert Institute may be reached at 2604 Sisson St., 3rd floor, Baltimore, Md. 21211 (410-662-7252; fax: 410-662-7254; e-mail: calvert@attach.net; website: www.calvertinstitute.org).