About the Manhattan Institute

The Manhattan Institute is a community of scholars, journalists, activists, and civic leaders dedicated to advancing opportunity, individual liberty, and the rule of law in America and its great cities. 

We work to improve the quality of life in our urban centers, with a particular focus on the problem of urban violence and the need for public-sector reform.

We offer constructive alternatives to identity politics to help overcome our nation’s ethnic and cultural divides.

We champion educational excellence and educational choice for all families.

We believe that expanding economic freedom is essential to achieving widespread prosperity and upward mobility.

The Institute is a public policy think tank, the publisher of City Journal, and a network of emerging leaders.

• Our think tank is home to leading experts across a range of policy areas, including policing and public safety, housing, education, law and economics, to name just a few. Drawing on a range of experiences and skills, our fellows craft policy solutions to many of the most urgent challenges facing our cities and our country.   
• City Journal is the nation’s leading urban-policy magazine. Argument-based, urbane, and influential, City Journal holds itself to the highest standards of clarity and readability for discerning readers, and its original journalism puts a human face on public-policy concerns.  
• The Adam Smith Society is the heart of MI’s next generation efforts. With chapters on top MBA campuses and a robust national network of rising business leaders, the Smith Society connects its members with business, policy, and thought leaders to explore today’s pressing challenges and civil society’s role in addressing them.  

Together, we seek to enrich and influence public discourse; provide policy expertise at every level of government; and develop civic, business, and intellectual leaders who can help realize the promise and potential of American life.