The mission of the Dole Institute of Politics is to promote political and civic participation as well as civil discourse in a bi-partisan, balanced manner. By providing a forum for discussion of political and economic issues, fostering for public service leadership and encouraging participation in the political process, we emphasize that politics is an honorable profession and that only through political and civic participation can citizens redirect the course of our nation. While the objective is to accomplish this mission on a broad scale, our location at the University of Kansas provides a unique opportunity for outreach to young people and students.

We utilize the three distinct components of the Dole Institute to accomplish this mission: unique displays that tell the compelling story of Bob Dole's life in the context of Kansas and The Greatest Generation; the largest congressional archives in existence that house all of the Senator's congressional papers and will someday be the scene of critical historical research; and finally, the aggressive public programming conducted by the Dole Institute.