Acton Institute
American research and educational institution
The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty is an American conservative and libertarian think tank in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with an office in Rome. Its stated mission is "to promote a free and virtuous society characterized by individual liberty and sustained by religious principles". Its work supports free market economic policy framed within Judeo-Christian morality. Acton Institute also organizes seminars "to educate religious leaders of all denominations, business executives, entrepreneurs, university professors, and academic researchers in economics principles".
History
The Acton Institute was founded in 1990 in Grand Rapids, Michigan by Robert A. Sirico and Kris Alan Mauren. It is named after the English historian, politician and writer Lord Acton, who is popularly associated with the dictum "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". The institute is a member of the Atlas Network.
Sirico and Mauren were concerned that many religious people were ignorant of economic realities, and that many economists and businessmen were insufficiently grounded in religious principles. Sirico explained the link between economics and religion with reference to the institute's namesake: "Acton realized that economic freedom is essential to creating an environment in which religious freedom can flourish. But he also knew that the market can function only when people behave morally.
“Acton Institute” enters the record as american research and educational institution. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Acton, Institute and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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“Acton Institute” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Acton, Institute and American provides the most credible route into that argument.
The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4677676. VIAF identifies the subject as 140865863. The Library of Congress control number is n92102957. Authority coordinates are 42.963, -85.666. 4 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 3 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1990.
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This entry incorporates text from “Acton Institute” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.