Company Profile

Company Overview

The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics was established in 1997 as a result of Senator Dole’s gift of his papers to the University of Kansas. The Dole Institute makes the Senator’s official and personal papers and congressional materials available to scholars and the public alike, and hosts a continuing set of lively programs that connect politics, public policy, and history to faculty, students, and the general public. The gift of Senator Elizabeth Dole’s papers, in 2017, incorporates her own legacy into the full slate of program offerings at the Dole Institute.

The mission of the Dole Institute of Politics is to promote political and civic participation as well as civil discourse in a bi-partisan, philosophically balanced manner. By providing a forum for discussion of political and economic issues, fostering public service leadership and encouraging participation in the political process, we emphasize that politics is an honorable profession and provide opportunities for all to interact with political leaders, practitioners and authors. The Dole Institute also emphasizes that only through political and civic participation can citizens redirect the course of our nation.

The Robert J. and Elizabeth Dole Archives and Special Collections department is responsible for collections-based functions at the Dole Institute of Politics. Our collections include one of the largest congressional manuscript collections in the country which attracts researchers from around the world.