The Ethics and Public Policy Center is a conservative Washington, D.C.-based think tank and advocacy group. Founded in 1976, the group describes itself as "dedicated to applying the Judeo-Christian moral tradition to critical issues of public policy", and advocacy of founding principles such as the rule of law. The EPPC is active in a number of ways, including hosting lectures and conferences, publishing written work from the group's scholars, and running programs intended to explore areas of public concern and interest. The EPPC's current president is Edward Whelan, who previously worked as an official in the United States Department of Justice. Yuval Levin serves as vice president, replacing Michael Cromartie, former chairman of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, while George Weigel, Catholic theologian and papal biographer, is distinguished senior fellow. The EPPC is a qualified 501 organization and currently employs 20 individuals. According to Hoover's, the EPPC's annual sales total $2.47 million while their annual income totals $283,900.
History
The EPPC was founded in 1976 by Ernest W. Lefever, an American political theorist. He was nominated in 1981 for a State Department position by President Ronald Reagan before ultimately being rejected for the opportunity due to his controversial background. He served as president of the EPPC until 1989 and continued to write scholarly articles for the EPPC until his death in 2009. Lefever said upon founding the institute that "a small ethically oriented center" should "respond directly to ideological critics who insist the corporation is fundamentally unjust." The EPPC's website states that the organization is dedicated to "applying the Judeo-Christian moral tradition to critical issues of public policy," such as the Cold War, the war on terror, the role of religion in public life, and battles over the nature of the family. From 2003 to 2018, EPPC published The New Atlantis: A Journal of Technology and Society. In January 2018, The New Atlantis became independent of EPPC and is now published by the Center for the Study of Technology and Society.
Members
There are currently twenty-three scholars listed on the EPPC's "Fellows and Scholars" page. They include Center president Ed Whelan and former Center president George Weigel. Other noted scholars include Mona Charen, Stanley Kurtz, Yuval Levin, Lance Morrow, and Peter Wehner.
