The Competitive Enterprise Institute is a non-profit public policy organization dedicated to advancing the principles of limited government, free enterprise, and individual liberty. Our mission is to promote both freedom and fairness by making good policy good politics. We make the uncompromising case for economic freedom because we believe it is essential for entrepreneurship, innovation, and prosperity to flourish.
Unique among free market groups, CEI pursues a full-service approach to advancing public policy. We publish original scholarly studies that make the case for an issue, but our work doesn’t end there. We then take it to the next level by marketing our policy proposals. We craft and deploy media advocacy campaigns around that foundation of solid research in order to reach policy makers, influential opinion leaders, and grassroots activists. CEI policy analysts produce timely commentaries for major news organizations, appear on television and radio, and reach out to beat reporters covering our issues.
We also build coalitions, joining with allies to advance specific issues at the state, national, and international levels. When appropriate, we pursue our pro-freedom advocacy in court. We have brought lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of dubious statutes, interstate agreements, and onerous regulations, and we have sued government agencies to force the disclosure of public information.
Founded in 1984, CEI has grown into an effective advocate for freedom on a wide range of critical policy issues, including energy, environment, business and finance, technology, telecommunications, and food and drug regulation.