Public Citizen - Organization and History

Organization and History

Founded by Ralph Nader in 1971, Public Citizen is funded by dues and contributions from its members and supporters, foundation grants, and publication sales and does not accept government or corporate funds.

Public Citizen runs with the slogan of “Corporations have their lobbyists in Washington D.C. The People need advocates too.” As explained on their website their overarching goal is “to ensure that all citizens are represented in the halls of power.” They are a nonprofit organization that is not affiliated with any partisan political activity nor do they ever endorse any politician running for public office. They survive on donations from their 80,000 supporters and other means of attaining money without resorting to the acceptance of donations from the government or corporations. Public Citizen aims to make sure that the government remains one by the people, for the people and in that attempt leads the charge “against undemocratic trade agreements that advance the interests of mega-corporations at the expense of citizens worldwide.” As a means of fulfilling that mission, Public Citizen has five policy groups that work hard on behalf of the people: The Congress Watch division, the Energy Program, Global Trade Watch, the Health Research Group and their Litigation Group. They have two offices located in Washington D.C. and Austin, Texas respectively. The Congress Watch Division of Public Citizen “champions consumer interests before the US Congress and serves as a government watchdog.” They are focused on three aspects: “strengthening health, safety and financial protections. Ensuring access to the courts to hold corporations accountable for wrongdoing. strengthening our democracy by exposing and combating the harmful impact of money in politics.” Their Energy Program attempts to rally people against the harmful dangers of nuclear power and instead advocate a reliable and sustainable energy future. Among their effort include the desire to combat climate change and support an environment that runs on sustainable energy. Public Citizen’s Health Research Group leads this sector’s “research based, system wide changes in health care policy and drug safety.” They are in charge of newsletters which they use to educate the public regarding drug interactions and dangerous drugs. They fully support a single payer Medicare for everyone. For forty years Public Citizen can take credit for “successfully challenging the abusive practices of the pharmaceutical, nuclear and automobile industries” as well as many others. Along with tackling those overarching sectors, their work includes sections such as access to justice, access to medicines, climate and energy, commercial alert, financial reform, globalization and trade, government reform, health and safety, litigation and Texas issues.

After the 2000 presidential election Public Citizen saw a drop in contributions, and responded to inquiries about Nader's involvement with the organization by noting that Nader had not held an official position in the organization since 1980. John Margolis of Mother Jones described it as "evidence of how rank-and-file liberals have turned against Nader".