Resident scholars lean back in leather chairs, occasionally consulting weighty books from spacious shelves, and only the clatter of a typewriter disturbs the autumn afternoon. Yet if the Institute has the appearance of a typical ivory tower, its directors insist that that is not its purpose or its promise. They see their Institute, which is a year old this month, becoming a major force in the definition and attainment of America's future. The Institute for Policy Studies was founded by two young New Frontiersmen, Richard J. Barnet and Marcus Raskin. It serves as a research headquarters, a neutral meeting place for scholars and government officials and a teaching facility.
Research is done individually by resident and visiting fellows.
No government research contracts are accepted, under terms of the Institute's charter. They're setting the terms of reference. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Barnet has worked at Harvard's Russian Research Center and as deputy director of the office of political research in the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. In this way, he explained, scholars could try their ideas out on government officials, see at close range some of the particular problems the bureaucrat or administrator works under , yet still not be restricted by a government contract. We are deliberately broad in our fields , Barnet said.