Public Citizen

Think tank and left-wing advocacy group

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[1]
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..

## Lobbying efforts[edit]

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]

For example, Public Citizen has been a public voice on matters related to drug policy and pricing, exemplified by advocacy surrounding Gilead Sciences and remdesivir, and the potentially cheaper alternative GS-441524.[6]

## History[edit]

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]

## Funding[edit]

Public Citizen is funded by dues and contributions from its members and supporters, foundation grants, and publication sales. It does not accept government or corporate funds.[4][12]

## People associated with Public Citizen[edit]

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

## See also[edit]

* Consumer Project on Technology
* Food & Water Watch
* Anti-nuclear movement in the United States

## References[edit]

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. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20101006083114/https://www.citizen.org/about/
4. ^ a b 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. ^ Cite error: The named reference `britannica.com` was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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.
11. ^ "Nader Forms Unit to Seek Donations". New York Times. June 2, 1971. p. 16\. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
12. ^ "Annual Reports and Form 990s". Public Citizen. citizen.org. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
13. ^ "Donna Edwards, a political maverick, says her national experience will boost Prince George's". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
14. ^ "Public Citizen - 35th Anniversary Issue" (PDF). November 1, 2006.

## External links[edit]

* Public Citizen Website

* 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

Authority control databases |

* ISNI

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