Building a better competition of ideas

How one organization is working to improve Washington

Washington, D.C. is not exactly famous for thoughtful conversations and reasoned civil discourse. Especially not these days, when this overheated election season seems poised to pivot from unpleasant primaries to an even more unpleasant general election. It seems like five months of personalized insults and unadulterated ad hominem are inevitable.

Does it have to be this way? Well, maybe. Historical evidence gives the lie to the complaints issued every four years that this is really the “worst election ever.”

Fortunately, electoral politics isn’t the only possible outlet for reasoned and civil discussion. At the American Enterprise Institute, we work every day to foster a spirit of open, independent, and thoughtful discourse in service of building a better world.

Now, we have a definite worldview. We are big believers in the importance of free enterprise, individual liberty, and strong, moral American leadership on the international stage. But those big-picture principles don’t confine our scholars’ agendas, pre-determine the conclusions of our work, or limit the kinds of conversations we are willing to join. Our experts have academic freedom because we believe that the pursuit of truth is more fundamental than the pursuit of particular political “victories.”

Besides, we know the vast majority of well-meaning, good-hearted people across the political spectrum share a common goal: We want public policies that equip people to build the best life. Again, the scholars and staff at AEI have our own individual convictions about what ideas will get that done. (We tend to converge around free enterprise and strong American leadership.) But we are also true believers in a fierce but friendly competition of ideas between those who disagree.

Different perspectives and diverse views aren’t cause to shy away from conversations. To the contrary, they’re a sign to dig deeper. That’s when things start getting really interesting.

In this spirit, AEI invites leaders from all sectors and of all ideological stripes to come to our headquarters and share their views with us. We have welcomed everyone to our stage from His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Bill Gates.

And this summer, we’re doing more of the same. Take just this month of June. In the past two weeks, we have already hosted:

• Leader McConnell, the U.S. Senate majority leader, who joined AEI to discuss his new memoir in an exclusive interview with journalist Matt Lewis;
• Ambassador Robert Holleyman, the Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, who came to give a keynote speech on TPP and how new trade agreements might impact digital commerce;
• Senators Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Mark Warner (D-VA), who used an AEI event on Capitol Hill to launch their new Senate Cybersecurity Caucus. The event highlighted a landmark new report from AEI researchers: “An American Strategy for Cyberspace: Advancing Freedom, Security, and Prosperity.”

Those important conversations were just the beginning.

This morning, I had the pleasure of introducing Treasury Department Secretary Jack Lew, a member of President Obama’s cabinet. Secretary Lew came to AEI to speak about the Administration’s understanding of how America’s and China’s economies intersect.

And in the remainder of June alone, we will also be hearing from:

• The bipartisan experts behind a new proposal for corporate tax reform. They’ll be offering their own ideas for reform at a joint event tomorrow that AEI is cohosting with the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.
• Senator John Cornyn, the senior Senator from Texas and the majority whip. Senator Cornyn is coming to AEI to discuss the important topic of criminal justice reform — a topic on which our organization has already collaborated with the White House earlier this year.
• Speaker Paul Ryan. I’m excited to share the news that the Speaker will be stopping by AEI to kick off a new conversation about modernizing American healthcare.
• Sheryl Sandberg, the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook. I am looking forward to welcoming Sheryl onstage at AEI for an exclusive, one-on-one conversation about breakthrough innovations, the competition of ideas, and Facebook’s stated mission to open up the world.
• A host of prominent Catholic leaders and intellectuals. As a practicing Catholic myself, I’m particularly excited about this one. AEI will be honored to welcome two leading American bishops, Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington and Bishop Robert Barron of Los Angeles (and the famous Word On Fire ministries). Each will deliver a keynote address to bookend a day-long conference where Catholic leaders and scholars will discuss the role of Church teachings for public life in America today.
• And finally, I’m excited to announce that Melinda Gates of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will join me at AEI for another exclusive conversation. We’ll discuss strategic philanthropy, the transformative progress made in the past 15 years in reducing poverty and disease across the globe, and how we can achieve more progress in the next two decades.

Safe to say it will be a busy month for my colleagues and me. And I would venture that almost anyone interested in current events will find at least one of these major events that captures their interest. We would love to have you join the conversation by RSVPing for these events if you find yourself in Washington — or by watching the livestreams and checking in on social media.

It is relatively unique in Washington to actively embrace open, challenging debate and true intellectual freedom. That’s precisely what we will be doing over the next couple of weeks and in the coming months and years. Hosting pathbreaking leaders from the political, business, and nonprofit worlds for thought-provoking discussions is simply what we do at the American Enterprise Institute, where truth and open dialogue come first.

We’re grateful to all of our guests that will be joining us over this summer. Stay tuned for more to come this month and throughout the rest of the year.