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The Mackinac Center for Public Policy is an American non-profit free market think tank headquartered in Midland, Michigan.〔(IRS Data: EIN 38-2701547 (Public Charity) )〕〔(The Mackinac Center: ID Number 71871; Domestic Nonprofit Corporation ) Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs〕 It is the largest state-based free market think tank in the United States.〔New York Times ("Right-of-Center Guru Goes Wide With the Gospel of Small Government" ), Nov. 17, 2006〕 The Center states that it is "dedicated to improving the quality of life for all Michigan residents by promoting sound solutions to state and local policy questions."〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.mackinac.org/1668 )〕 The Mackinac Center conducts policy research on a range of public policy issues. It also conducts educational programs such as workshops for high school debate students and sponsors MichiganVotes.org, an online legislative voting record database. Mackinac Center scholars generally recommend lower taxes, reduced regulatory authority for state agencies, right-to-work laws, school choice, and enhanced protection of individual property rights. ==History== According to the Mackinac Center, the organization was founded in 1987 by a group of citizens who met on Mackinac Island and shared an interest in making Michigan a better place to live and work. The organization is named after Mackinac Island.〔Mackinac Center Web site, ("What Is the Mackinac Center?" )〕 The Center began operations in 1987 with no office or full-time staff. It formally opened offices in Midland in 1988 with its first president, Lawrence W. Reed, an economist, writer, and speaker who had chaired the economics department at Northwood University. The Lansing-based Cornerstone Foundation provided early direction and some funding.〔 The Center's first annual budget under Reed was $80,000. In 1997, the Mackinac Center moved from rented offices to its current headquarters after having raised $2.4 million to renovate a former Woolworth’s department store on Midland’s Main Street.〔Mackinac Center Web site, ("Mackinac Center to Build $2.4 Million Headquarters" ), March 23, 1998〕 Reed served as president from the Center’s founding until September 2008, when he assumed the title President Emeritus and also became the president of the Foundation for Economic Education. Former Chief Operating Officer Joseph G. Lehman was named the Mackinac Center’s president on September 1, 2008.〔Midland Daily News, (‘’Lehman succeeding Reed as Mackinac Center president’’ ), July 21, 2008〕 The Mackinac Center is classified as a 501(c)(3) organization under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.〔(mackinac.org/about )〕 The Mackinac Center is a member of the State Policy Network,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Directory SPN Members )〕 an umbrella organization of conservative and libertarian think tanks operating at the state level. In November 2006 the ''New York Times'' published a two-part series about state based free market think tanks that described how the Mackinac Center trained think tank executives from 42 countries and nearly every US state. ''New York Times'' reported that, “When the Mackinac Center was founded in 1987, there were just three other conservative state-level policy institutes. Now there are 48, in 42 states."〔New York Times (''Right-of-Center Guru Goes Wide With the Gospel of Small Government" ), Nov. 17, 2006〕 When asked by Detroit’s ''Metro Times'' in 1996, the Center’s President Lawrence Reed said: "Our funding sources are primarily foundations … with the rest coming from corporations and individuals," but that "… revealing our contributors would be a tremendous diversion…" In 2002, the Michigan Education Association (MEA) sued the Mackinac Center over the Center's use of a supportive quote by the MEA's President in fundraising material. In 2004, the Michigan Court of Appeals threw out the lawsuit. In a 2011 interview, founder Joe Olson said that the Center was first conceived in a Lansing, Michigan bar at a meeting between Olson, fellow insurance company executive Tom Hoeg, Richard McLellan and then-Senator John Engler. Olson said the founders wanted an organization that would focus on research, writing, speaking, issuing press releases and looking at public policy from a free-market point of view. In 2014, the organization released a mobile app, VoteSpotter. The app allows users to track votes by elected officials in the United States. It was originally an extension of the organization's MichiganVotes.org website, but has since expanded to include other states.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mackinac Center for Public Policy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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