Break gridlock
We diagnose why Congress stalls, and prescribe fixes that get cross-partisan support.
New Statecraft Institute
In matters of statecraft, the search for common ground is a moral imperative.
New Statecraft Institute conducts independent research on federal policy and offers practical reforms that do not start with a party label.
What We Do
Four objectives guide our work
End conflicts of interest
We craft policies that align incentives with public priorities, and hold decision-makers accountable.
Move past the duopoly
We draw on ideas from across the political spectrum, and judge them solely on whether they work.
Rebuild trust in government
We document what's real and true, so debate can be informed by established facts.
Featured Projects
Two flagship endeavors
Transformative Leadership Initiative
Candidates from both parties — or no party — are invited to sign the Accord. A public Scorecard tracking who delivers on it debuts in 2028.
Visit transformativeleaders.usElections Reality Project
A definitive cross-partisan record of officials, journalists, and thought-leaders confirming that the 2020 presidential election was not decided by fraud.
Explore the projectLeadership
Practiced in the art of the possible
Our executive team draws on decades of experience in public policy, law, academia, and service to ideologically diverse members of Congress.
Dr. Thomas O’Brien
Co-founder and Research Director
Dr. Thomas O’Brien is a co-founder of the New Statecraft Institute and its inaugural Research Director, leading the Institute’s analysis of federal policy. He previously spent more than a decade as Director for Research at the Horizon Institute for Policy Solutions, where he focused on advancing socioeconomic justice through market-based approaches that reduce regulatory burdens. His writing has appeared in The Economist, Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. Dr. O’Brien received his doctorate in social psychology from the University of Virginia, where his research centered on the science of persuasion and behavioral insights.
D. James “DJ” Jones
Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer
D. James “DJ” Jones is a co-founder of the New Statecraft Institute, where he serves as Chief Operating Officer and oversees organizational development, strategy, and partnerships. He returned to politics and policy in 2023, after more than two decades in law, finance, and academia with an emphasis on public-private partnerships and impact philanthropy. His public-service experience includes work for Rep. Bill Goodling (R-PA), Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), the National Endowment for Democracy, and Public Counsel Law Center. He holds degrees from the University of Virginia and UCLA School of Law. Mr. Jones is also a Senior Advisor to Resonant Public, a Washington, D.C.–based public affairs firm.
Publications
Politics is the art of the possible.
Ideas in print, in partnership, and in public — drawn from every person and place they can be found.
The Fulcrum
D. James Jones is being published in The Fulcrum.
Serve the States
New Statecraft Institute is a contributor to Serve the States.
Social media
Short commentary from the Institute, posted as it happens.
Dr. Thomas O’Brien
Essays and commentary from the Institute’s Research Director.
Selected writing by Dr. Thomas O’Brien
Finding the Strongest Presidential Nominee
No decision that an American political party makes is remotely as important as selecting its presidential nominee. In any democratic nation, it is very unhealthy for a major party to coronate for renomination an unpopular president unopposed by any credible challengers. But in our two-party duopoly, it is an even more glaring failure of our national dialogue. The Democratic Party must do better than giving its voters the illusory "choice" of one candidate. The Party should add at least one other consensus candidate to the ballot. If President Biden suffers a heart attack, stroke, cancer or notable cognitive decline during the primary process with no strong back-up candidate, Trump would be even more likely to become our president again.
Letter: Kamala Harris and the vice presidency
Kamala Harris should indeed reconsider seeking a second term as vice-president. Voters lack confidence in her, a big danger to Mr Biden's electability. Selecting someone like Evan Bayh, Tom Daschle or Susan Rice for vice-president would completely change the campaign narrative, providing a universally respected commander-in-chief in waiting. Ms Harris could become secretary of state or UN ambassador.
Want real facts? Stop reading garbage.
The Dec. 18 [2023] front-page article "Flood of falsehoods: AI fake news surges online" cited the bum advice that to avoid disinformation "people should watch for clues in articles, 'red flags' such as 'really odd grammar' or errors in sentence construction." The real solution is to stop reading garbage. Most publications with real, paid writers and editors to double-check the facts have paywalls, which help pay to produce real news.
I felt a funeral, in my brain
The Jan. 3 news article "Glimmers of hope work their way through the darkness of 2020" helpfully pointed to hopeful developments. But the call for complacency on biodiversity — "there were both negative and positive developments on the biodiversity front in 2020…" — was a grave disservice to Post readers.
The economics of mass transit
The March 14 editorial "A step too far" criticizing free mass transit got the economics dead wrong. The editorial said, "It's expensive." Running the same number of trains and buses per day costs exactly the same down to the penny. In fact, administrative expenses can be reduced by making service free in off-peak periods. The only question is who pays the bill. Reducing the costs of maintaining fare machines and transaction delays on buses would also be improvements.
Let's get centrists singing along
E.J. Dionne Jr. was wrong in discouraging centrists in his July 5 op-ed, "The centrist chorus is off-key." His own numbers indicated that 12 percent of Americans fall into the "pure independent" category. In a 50-50 nation, 12 percent looks like the margin of victory. And 41 percent of Democrats "put themselves at the center of the ideological spectrum," as do 22 percent of Republicans. Centrist voters choose the lesser of two evils because they are presented with a choice between two extremes.
A Better Way to Elect a President?
Your editorial ("Let the People Pick the President," Nov. 8) is correct that the Electoral College must be superseded. But the details of the interstate National Popular Vote compact as currently written are suboptimal. Instead of giving the presidency to the plurality winner in a seven-candidate race, instant runoff would ensure that the majority decides between the two top candidates.
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