Acton Breaks into Top Spots of Global Think Tank Ranking
For the past eight years, the University of Pennsylvania’s Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) has researched think tanks worldwide and ranked the top few hundred in various categories. For the first time, the Acton Institute broke into the top 30 United States think tanks and the top 10 global social policy think tanks.
Highlights from the 2014 Global Go-To Think Tanks Report include:
- Acton 9th in the ranked Top Social Policy Think Tanks category (11th in 2013)
- Ranked 29th among Top Think Tanks in the U.S. (34th in 2013)
- Ranked 11th in Best Advocacy Campaign category for PovertyCure (10th in 2013)
- Ranked 17th in Best Think Tank Conference category for Acton University (17th in 2013)
The TTCSP maintains comprehensive data on almost 7,000 think tanks worldwide of those more than half are considered in the ranking, but fewer than 300 make it into the final report. The United States has the most think tanks with 1,830, followed by China with 429. In the United States, Washington, D.C. has the most of any state with 396. Michigan is home to Acton, as well as 30 other think tanks.
While Acton did well in the rankings, free market think tanks as a whole had a strong presence in the report this year, taking top spots in several categories for the United States and internationally. The report included a list of ranking criteria, which include the “quality and commitment of the think tank’s leadership; the quality, number, and reach of its publications; the think tank’s reputation with policymakers; its media reputation; its ability to produce new knowledge; financial stewardship; and the organization’s impact on society.”
Acton University Preparing for its 10th Anniversary
The Acton Institute’s biggest event is turning 10 this year and getting even bigger. Registration for Acton University 2015 has been open for only a few weeks, but applications are pouring in and anticipation is building for the 4-day long conference being held June 16-19 at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Registrations and confirmations are breaking previous records, promising an enthusiastic, and energetic group of attendees.
The conference originated in 2005, as the Acton Symposium, and was held at Grand Valley State University’s Eberhard Center, which it quickly outgrew. That first year, there were around 250 applicants and just over 150 attendees. In 2014, there were almost 1,500 applicants and nearly 900 attendees. The conference has always included international participants, consistently attracting a large group of attendees from more than 70 countries. Participants have praised the conferences ecumenical nature, as classes reflect a broad number of religious backgrounds and attendees come from a great number of faiths. Even among the Christian participants, there is an even divide between Roman Catholics and Protestants. In 2005, there were fewer than 20 faculty members. While this years conference will include more than 20 Speakers with backgrounds as diverse as the participants.
The conference attendees, while diverse in ethnic backgrounds, also represent a variety of professions and vocations. In 2014, around one quarter of the participants were full-time students. The rest were church leaders, business leaders, educators, non-profit administrators, consultants, and more. A study of the 2014 participants showed that the majority of attendees each directly influenced more than 100 others, primarily through teaching and small group leadership.
While social media has not always played a large part in the conference, in the last few years it has taken off as an effective tool for participants, Acton staff, and people who are unable to attend. Acton uses Twitter and Facebook for daily announcements and important updates. During the conference in 2014, the hashtag #ActonU was trending and generated great dialogue among attendees and people interested in the theme of the week, but who were not present. Acton University generated more than 15 million media impressions from online, print, and radio sources.
Thanks to very generous donors and foundations, Acton is able to offer travel scholarships and subsidized lodging to qualified applicants. What can you expect in 2015? More than 100 classes in a dozen categories, including new bonus courses from PovertyCure. There will be special screenings of Acton’s popular new curriculum, “For the Life of the World: Letters to the Exiles,” and of PovertyCure’s award winning documentary, “Poverty Inc.” Evening plenary speakers include Rev. Robert A. Sirico, co-founder of the Acton Institute, and Dr. Greg Thornbury, president of The King’s College in New York City. For testimonials from last year’s Acton University participants, be sure to watch “Be Inspired,” an informative video on the conference’s website at university.acton.org.
New Monographs on Human Trafficking & Consumerism
The latest monographs from the Acton Institute will explore timely and sometimes overlooked economic subjects. “The Cure for Consumerism” by Rev. Gregory Jensen is the second in the Orthodox Christian Social Thought Series. Since the onset of the Industrial Revolution, there has been a rapid growth of human flourishing, but critics of the market economy have argued that these improvements have led to consumerism and rampant materialism. This monograph will explore the possible cures for consumerism. Can society actively choose to consume less? Does our economic system need a complete overhaul? Rev. Jensen will explore these possibilities, synthesizing insights from the spiritual tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church with modern social science. This monograph will offer practical solutions to consumerism, putting both faith and economic freedom to work for the common good.
“A Vulnerable World: The High Price of Human Trafficking” by Elise Graveline Hilton explores the economics of the dark, hidden world of modern human slavery. An estimated 20 million people are bought and sold annually for labor and sexual exploitation in a $150 billion industry. This horrific industry robs people of their dignity and ability to flourish. “A Vulnerable World” is broken down into three sections. Hilton will discuss the business of human trafficking itself, the perpetrators of this hideous act, and the broad scope of this crime. She paints a picture of the most vulnerable individuals who are lured into this dark world, as well as what leads individuals to sell their children and other dependent relatives into a life of slavery and violence. Finally, Hilton will discuss possible ways to fight back against human trafficking, offering real-world solutions. This monograph is only one part of the work the Acton Institute is doing to raise awareness about this global phenomenon. This spring, Acton’s Prince-Broekhuizen Gallery will temporarily house Pamela Alderman’s 2014 Artprize entry “The Scarlet Cord,” a piece meant to shed awareness on sex slavery. On April 29, Hilton and Alderman will present a lecture on human trafficking in Acton’s Mark Murray Auditorium.
