Public Citizen

Public Citizen Inc.
Public Citizen Foundation
	Public Citizen's headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Founded	1971 by Ralph Nader in the US
Type	Think tank
Focus	Consumer advocacy
Location	Washington D.C.;
Area served	Nationwide (US)
Method	Research, lobbying, litigation and appeals, media attention, direct-appeal campaigns
Key people	Robert Weissman (President); Mark A. Chavez (Foundation Chair); Jason Adkins (Inc. Chair); Joan Claybrook (President emeritus)
Revenue (2019)	$17,885,184
Website	www.citizen.org

Actual Wordmark

Public Citizen is an American non-profit, progressive^[2] consumer rights advocacy group, and think tank based in Washington, D.C.. It was founded in 1971 by the American activist and lawyer Ralph Nader.

Lobbying efforts

Public Citizen advocates before all three branches of the United States federal government.^[3] Its five divisions include Congress Watch; Energy; Global Trade Watch; the Health Research Group;^[4] and Public Citizen Litigation Group, a nationally prominent public interest law firm founded by Alan Morrison and known for its Supreme Court and appellate practice.^[5]

Among other issues, Public Citizen has been a public voice on drug pricing. For example, they advocated for Gilead Sciences to test GS-441524, a cheaper alternative to remdesivir. ^[6]

History

In 1968, Nader recruited seven volunteer law students, dubbed "Nader's Raiders" by the Washington press corps, to evaluate the efficacy and operation of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The group's ensuing report, which criticized the body as "ineffective" and "passive" led to an American Bar Association investigation of the FTC. Based on the results of that second study, Richard Nixon revitalized the agency and sent it on a path of vigorous consumer protection and antitrust enforcement for the rest of the 1970s.^[7]

Nader's Raiders became involved in such issues as nuclear safety, international trade, regulation of insecticides, meat processing, pension reform, land use, and banking.^[8]

Following the publication of the report, Nader founded Public Citizen in 1971 to engage in public interest lobbying and activism on issues of consumer rights.^[9] He served on its board of directors until 1980.^[10]^[11]

People associated with Public Citizen

Ralph Nader, founder
Joan Claybrook, first executive director
Donna Edwards, former U.S. Representative^[12]
Alan Morrison, co-founder
Mark Green, former New York City Public Advocate^[13]
Melinda St. Louis, director, Global Trade Watch^[14]
Lori Wallach, founder, Global Trade Watch
Sidney M. Wolfe, director, Health Research Group
Phil Radford, former organizer, Global Trade Watch
Wenonah Hauter, executive director, Food & Water Watch

References

^ "2019 Year in Review" (PDF) (Annual report). Public Citizen. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
^ Hulse, Carl (September 30, 2014). "Support Strong for Regulating Politics and Nonprofits". New York Times. nytimes.com. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
^ "About Public Citizen". 2010-10-06. Archived from the original on 2010-10-06. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
^ About Public Citizen
^ "Courting Change: The Story of the Public Citizen Litigation Group Archived 2018-06-13 at the Wayback Machine". Public Citizen. citizen.org. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
^ Dardick, Hal (3 August 2020). "In search for COVID-19 treatments, consumer group pushes drugmaker Gilead to test alternative to remdesivir". Chicago Tribune. Chicago Tribune Media Group. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
^ Niesen, Molly. "The Little Old Lady Has Teeth: The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the Advertising Industry, 1970–1973". Advertising & Society Review 12.4. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
^ Doyle, Jack (2013-03-31). ""Nader's Raiders" 1968-1974". pophistorydig.com. Pop History Dig. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
^ "NADER FORMS UNIT TO SEEK DONATIONS". The New York Times. June 2, 1971. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
^ "Nader Resigns as Chief Of Public Citizen Inc". The New York Times. November 2, 1980. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
^ "Nader Forms Unit to Seek Donations". New York Times. June 2, 1971. p. 16. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
^ "Donna Edwards, a political maverick, says her national experience will boost Prince George's". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
^ "Public Citizen - 35th Anniversary Issue" (PDF). November 1, 2006.
^ "Global Trade Watch". Public Citizen. Retrieved 2024-08-16.

External links

Public Citizen Website

[1] "2019 Year in Review" (PDF) (Annual report). Public Citizen. Retrieved 16 June 2021.

[2] Hulse, Carl (September 30, 2014). "Support Strong for Regulating Politics and Nonprofits". New York Times. nytimes.com. Retrieved 2017-09-21.

[3] "About Public Citizen". 2010-10-06. Archived from the original on 2010-10-06. Retrieved 2024-08-18.

[aboutus-4] About Public Citizen

[5] "Courting Change: The Story of the Public Citizen Litigation Group Archived 2018-06-13 at the Wayback Machine". Public Citizen. citizen.org. Retrieved 2017-09-21.

[6] Dardick, Hal (3 August 2020). "In search for COVID-19 treatments, consumer group pushes drugmaker Gilead to test alternative to remdesivir". Chicago Tribune. Chicago Tribune Media Group. Retrieved 14 August 2022.

[7] Niesen, Molly. "The Little Old Lady Has Teeth: The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the Advertising Industry, 1970–1973". Advertising & Society Review 12.4. Retrieved July 19, 2012.

[8] Doyle, Jack (2013-03-31). ""Nader's Raiders" 1968-1974". pophistorydig.com. Pop History Dig. Retrieved 2024-08-16.

[9] "NADER FORMS UNIT TO SEEK DONATIONS". The New York Times. June 2, 1971. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 18, 2023.

[10] "Nader Resigns as Chief Of Public Citizen Inc". The New York Times. November 2, 1980. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 18, 2023.

[founding-11] "Nader Forms Unit to Seek Donations". New York Times. June 2, 1971. p. 16. Retrieved 2017-09-21.

[12] "Donna Edwards, a political maverick, says her national experience will boost Prince George's". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-10-25.

[13] "Public Citizen - 35th Anniversary Issue" (PDF). November 1, 2006.

[14] "Global Trade Watch". Public Citizen. Retrieved 2024-08-16.

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v t e Public Citizen
People	Phil Radford Ralph Nader Gene Karpinski Joan Claybrook Alan Morrison Mark Green David Vladeck Lori Wallach Todd Tucker
Related organizations	Public Citizen Litigation Group Public Citizen Texas Global Trade Watch Food & Water Watch

v t e Anti-nuclear movement in the United States
General	Anti-nuclear groups in the US California movement Great Peace March Nuclear history of the United States Nuclear power in the US Canceled nuclear reactors in the US Nuclear weapons and the US Protests in the US Anti-nuclear advocates in the US
Organizations and groups	Abalone Alliance Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility Clamshell Alliance Committee for Nuclear Responsibility Corporate Accountability International Critical Mass Energy Project Friends of the Earth Greenpeace USA Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Mothers for Peace Musicians United for Safe Energy Nevada Desert Experience Nuclear Control Institute Nuclear Information and Resource Service Physicians for Social Responsibility Plowshares movement Ploughshares Fund Public Citizen Shad Alliance Sierra Club Three Mile Island Alert Women Strike for Peace Kings Bay Plowshares
People	Daniel Berrigan William J. Bichsel Bruce G. Blair Larry Bogart Helen Caldicott Barry Commoner Norman Cousins Frances Crowe Carrie Barefoot Dickerson Paul M. Doty Bernard T. Feld Randall Forsberg John Gofman Paul Gunter John Hall Jackie Hudson Sam Lovejoy Amory Lovins Bernard Lown Arjun Makhijani Gregory Minor Hermann Joseph Muller Ralph Nader Graham Nash Linus Pauling Eugene Rabinowitch Phil Radford Bonnie Raitt Carl Sagan Martin Sheen Karen Silkwood Thomas Louis Vitale Harvey Wasserman Victor Weisskopf
Main protest sites	Black Fox Bodega Bay Diablo Canyon Indian Point Lawrence Livermore Montague Naval Base Kitsap Nevada Test Site Rancho Seco Rocky Flats San Onofre Seabrook Shoreham Three Mile Island Trojan Vermont Yankee White House Peace Vigil Y-12 Weapons Plant Yankee Rowe
Books	Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free Conservation Fallout: Nuclear Protest at Diablo Canyon Contesting the Future of Nuclear Power Critical Masses: Opposition to Nuclear Power in California, 1958–1978 The Cult of the Atom The Doomsday Machine (book) Fallout: An American Nuclear Tragedy Killing Our Own Licensed to Kill? The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Shoreham Power Plant Making a Real Killing: Rocky Flats and the Nuclear West Nuclear Implosions: The Rise and Fall of the Washington Public Power Supply System Nuclear Politics in America We Almost Lost Detroit
Films	Atomic Ed and the Black Hole The China Syndrome Countdown to Zero Dark Circle Nuclear Tipping Point Silkwood

v t e Ralph Nader
Family	Rose Nader Claire Nader Laura Nader Shafeek Nader
Books authored	Unsafe at Any Speed Action for a Change Crashing the Party Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us! Unstoppable: The Emerging Left–Right Alliance to Dismantle the Corporate State
Presidential campaigns	1992 campaign 1996 campaign 2000 campaign 2004 campaign 2008 campaign
Organizations	Public Citizen Critical Mass Energy Project Knowledge Ecology International Public Interest Research Group Center for Auto Safety Connecticut Citizen Action Group Essential Information Princeton AlumniCorps Appleseed Foundation Democracy Rising American Antitrust Institute Commercial Alert Capitol Hill Citizen
Other	An Unreasonable Man Concord Principles American Museum of Tort Law The Chemical Feast introduction Small - On Safety introduction
Media