The Randolph Foundation sponsors numerous projects that examine current
public policy and offer policy alternatives. Such projects include television programs, films, books, and academic studies.
Television and film Through its funding of New River Media, the foundation serves as a major source of sponsorship for
PBS's weekly
Think Tank, which features commentator
Ben J. Wattenberg.
Think Tank episodes have featured discussion on such issues as
gun control and controversies in modern
feminism. Again working with New River Media and the team from
Think Tank, the foundation provided funding for
Heaven on Earth: the Rise and Fall of Socialism. The 2005 film was shown as a three-part mini-series on PBS and is a companion film to the 2002 book of the same name by
Joshua Muravchik. A PBS synopsis of the film portrayed its central ideas as follows: :''As an idea that changed the way people thought, socialism's success was spectacular. As a critique of capitalism that helped spawn modern social safety nets and welfare states, its success was appreciable. As a model for the development of post-colonial states, the socialist model proved disappointing, fostering economic stagnation among millions of the world's poorest people. And in its most violent forms, socialism was calamitous, claiming scores of millions of lives and helping to make the twentieth century the bloodiest ever.'' The Randolph Foundation was one source of funding for
God and the Inner City, a one-hour 2003 documentary chiefly backed by the
Pew Charitable Trusts which examined both faith-based and secular charities operating in inner-city environs. The foundation also provided financial support to Free to Choose Media for
The Power of Choice, a 2007 film biography of
Chicago School economist Milton Friedman.
Books In 1993, the foundation began providing support to
Marquette University political scientist Christopher Wolfe for a project that would eventually culminate in his 2006 book,
Natural Law Liberalism. In
Natural Law Liberalism, Wolfe advances the position that American public policy should be based on classical
natural law theory in the
Thomist tradition, which he argues results in policies characteristic of political
liberalism. TRF was also a source of funding for a book produced by the
free-market environmentalist Property and Environment Research Center (PERC).
Eco-nomics: What Everyone Should Know about Economics and the Environment was penned by
agricultural economist Richard L. Stroup and published by the
Cato Institute in 2003. The book, which won a 2004 award from the
Atlas Economic Research Foundation, targets the "educated lay person," offering public policy recommendations in keeping with the private, market approach to conservation.
Naomi Schaefer Riley received a grant from the foundation for her book,
God on the Quad: How Religious Colleges and the Missionary Generation Are Changing America. The 2004
St. Martin's Press offering was the result of research conducted by Riley at twenty higher education institutions affiliated with a religious group. The book examines classes and student life at institutions including
Brigham Young University,
Baylor University, and
Bob Jones University and discusses the potential impact of these schools' growing attendance on those interested in "bringing faith into the professional world." Currently, TRF is funding a
Council on Foreign Relations book project by CFR senior fellow
Max Boot. The project, which has been in progress since 2003 and is also sponsored by several other organizations, :''...examines four major technological revolutions of the past 500 years (Gunpowder, Industrial, Mechanization, and Computerization) and how they transformed warfare and the international balance-of-power.... In addition, Mr. Boot applies the lessons of history to current dilemmas, examining crucial questions such as how long America's military advantage will last, and what the United States can do to preserve its hegemony.''
Research Besides the research performed by Riley for
God on the Quad, other studies funded by the Randolph Foundation examined higher education in the United States. A controversial 2004 study by TRF-supported scholars found that "72 percent of teachers at American colleges and universities identify themselves as liberal, compared with 15 percent who describe themselves as conservative, with the liberal tilt greatest at elite schools and in humanities and social sciences departments." This study was cited by various columnists including
Cal Thomas. Its methodology and conclusions were criticized by the
American Association of University Professors. TRF is funding a six-year
University of Virginia study examining
parental leave policies in United States universities and their possible effect on
gender roles. According to a description on the university's website, the fundamental questions to be addressed by the study relate to the fact that, :
There is an ongoing quarrel in the academic literature between evolutionary psychologists and most feminists. The evolutionary psychologists believe that there are deep-seated hormonal and other reasons why women have done and probably always will do the vast majority of baby care. Most feminists believe that society constructs for women the role of baby care and that, with effort, this can be changed. ==Organizations funded==