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Organization
    The Tennessee Institute for Responsible Government (TIRG) was created November 2002 by corporate charter in the State of Tennessee. TIRG is a nonprofit, public benefit corporation, formed exclusively for educating the public on issues useful to individuals and beneficial to the community, and for lessening the burdens of government.
    TIRG is governed by a Board of Directors. Current Directors are Everett E. White, and Sheryl G. Donovan and Phillip K. Lowrey, who manages the organization and is responsible to the Board.		      The Internal Revenue Service has designated TIRG as a 501(c)(3) organization. With this status, donations to TIRG are deductible as charitable contributions on the donors’ federal income tax returns. Click here to view the IRS Designation Letter.
     Donations may be made online via PayPal by clicking the button below.
Mission Statement

    The Tennessee Institute for Responsible Government recognizes that government legitimately exists solely for the benefit of taxpayers. Our mission is to lessen the burden of government by educating the public on issues effecting individuals and communities. Responsible government can be obtained by citizens through knowledge of human action, economics, and social organization.

Social Assessment

    Government is a mechanism that redistributes wealth in society. Wealth is extracted from some citizens via various activities including taxation and market intervention. Wealth is distributed back to other citizens via various activities including payroll, transfers, and market intervention. Thus government represents an opportunity for some citizens to gain wealth at the expense of others.
    Taxation is the most visible form of wealth extraction. Citizens whose wealth diminish because of government are taxpayers. Citizens whose wealth increase because of government are taxtakers. The wealth of taxtakers has increased more than any other class of citizens in society.
    Market intervention, legislation obtained by lobbyists, also allows government to extract and redistribute wealth. Political regulation of business transactions is less visible, but just as effective as taxation.
    Democracy is a system of government enabling citizens to become politicians elected to positions where wealth redistribution decisions are made. Citizen participation in the electoral process is slight. Almost half of all citizens refuse to register as voters, and less than half who register actually vote.