evaluating the structure, administration, operation, and program performance of Federal and other governments and government agencies, anticipating, identifying, and analyzing significant problems, and suggesting timely corrective action;

foreseeing and examining critical emerging issues in governance, and formulating practical approaches to their resolution;

assessing the effectiveness, structure, administration, and implications for governance of present or proposed public programs, policies, and processes, and recommending specific changes;

advising on the relationship of Federal, State, regional, and local governments, and increasing public officials’, citizens’, and scholars’ understanding of requirements and opportunities for sound governance and how these can be effectively met; and

demonstrating by the conduct of its affairs a commitment to the highest professional standards of ethics and scholarship.