Think-tank
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For other uses, see Think tank (disambiguation).
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A think tank (also called a policy institute) is an organization, institute, corporation, or group that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economy, science or technology issues, industrial or business policies, or military advice.[1] Many think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the US and Canada provide with tax exempt status. While many think tanks are funded by governments, interest groups, or businesses, some think tanks also derive income from consulting or research work related to their mandate.[2]

There are different opinions about think tanks; supporters like the National Institute for Research Advancement hail them as "one of the main policy actors in democratic societies ..., assuring a pluralistic, open and accountable process of policy analysis, research, decision-making and evaluation".[3]

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History

Since "think tank" is a term that has only found use since the 1950s, there is still some debate over what constitutes the first think tank. One candidate is the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI), founded in 1831 at the initiative of the Duke of Wellington. Another is the Fabian Society of Britain, founded in 1884 to promote gradual social change. The Brookings Institution, founded in the US in 1916 is another candidate for the first think tank. The term think tank itself, however, was originally used in reference to organizations that offered military advice, most notably the RAND Corporation, formed originally in 1946 as an offshoot of Douglas Aircraft and which became an independent corporation in 1948.

Until around 1970, there were no more than several dozen think tanks, mostly focused on offering non-partisan policy and military advice to the United States government, and generally with large staffs and research budgets. After 1970, the number of think tanks exploded, as many smaller new think tanks were formed to express various ideological views.

Until the 1940s, most think tanks were known only by the name of the institution. During the Second World War, think tanks were referred to as "brain boxes" after the slang term for the skull. The phrase "think tank" in wartime American slang referred to rooms in which strategists discussed war planning. The first recorded use of the phrase to refer to modern think tanks was in 1959, and by the 1960s the term was commonly used to describe RAND and other groups assisting the armed forces. In recent times, the phrase "think tank" has become applied to a wide range of institutions, and there are no precise definitions of the term. Marketing or public relations organizations, especially of an international character, sometimes refer to themselves as think tanks, for example.

Types of think tanks

Think tanks represent a variety of ideological perspectives. Some think tanks, such as the Heritage Foundation, are clearly aligned with conservative causes. Others, especially those focused on social and environmental reforms, such as the Tellus Institute, are viewed as clearly liberal. Still others, such as the Cato Institute, promote libertarian social and economic reforms.

A new trend, resulting from globalization, is collaboration between think tanks across continents. For instance, the Brookings Institution, Washington DC, collaborates with Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar for an initiative on West-Islam relations. Also in the area of West-Islam relations, Strategic Foresight Group, a think tank based in India, works closely with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in the European Parliament. The World Economic Forum has created a Council of 100 Leaders on West-Islam relations, which brings together heads of major global think tanks ranging from Oxford Islamic Centre at Oxford University to Strategic Foresight Group, Observer Research Foundation,CASS-India, CSDS, Centre for Policy Research, ETC in Delhi of India and Al-Azhar University in Egypt.

Criticism

Critics such as Ralph Nader have suggested that, because of the private nature of the funding of think tanks, their results are biased to a varying degree. Some argue members will be inclined to promote or publish only those results that ensure the continued flow of funds from private donors. This risk of distortion similarly threatens the reputation and integrity of organizations such as universities, once considered to stand wholly within the public sector.citation needed Defenders state that think tanks arose to challenge alleged liberal orthodoxy of the universities in place starting in the 1970s.

Some criticswho? go further to assert think tanks are little more than propaganda tools for promoting the ideological arguments of whatever group established them. They charge that most think tanks, which are usually headquartered in state or national seats of government, exist merely for large-scale lobbying to form opinion in favor of special private interests. They give examples such as organizations calling themselves think tanks having hosted lunches for politicians to present research that critics claim is merely in the political interest of major global interests such as Microsoft, but that the connections to these interests are never disclosed. They charge, as another example, that the RAND Corporation issues research reports on national missile defense that accelerate investment into the very military products being produced by the military manufacturers who control RAND. Criticswho? assert that the status of most think-tanks as non-profit and tax exempt makes them an even more efficient tool to put special interest money to work. The Discovery Institute has generated a great deal of controversy by injecting the controversial concept of intelligent design into public debate. [4] [5] [6]

In some cases, corporate interests have found it useful to create "think tanks" that are thinly disguised vehicles for corporate propaganda. For example, The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition was formed in the mid 1990s to dispute research finding a link between second-hand smoke and cancer.[7] According to an internal memo from Philip Morris, "the credibility of the EPA is defeatable, but not on the basis of ETS (environmental tobacco smoke) alone. It must be part of a larger mosaic that concentrates all the EPA's enemies against it at one time." [8]

Asian think tanks

Chinese think tanks

In the People's Republic of China a number of think tanks are sponsored by governmental agencies but still retain sufficient non-official status to be able to propose and debate ideas more freely. Indeed, most of the actual diplomacy between China and the United States has taken the form of academic exchanges between members of think tanks.

Hong Kong think tanks

In Hong Kong, those early think tanks established in the late 1980s and early 1990s including Hong Kong Transition Project, Hong Kong Democratic Foundation and The One Country Two Systems Research Institute focused on the political development including first direct Legislative Council members election in 1991 and the political framework of “One Country, Two Systems” manifested in the Sino-British Joint Declaration. After the return of sovereignty to the Mainland China in 1997, more and more think tanks were established by various groups of intellectuals and professionals. They have various missions and objectives including promoting civic education; undertaking research on economic social and political policies (the mission of the Civic Exchange); promoting “public understanding of and participation in the political, economic, and social development of the Hong Kong SAR” (one of the objectives of Savantas).

European think tanks

Germany

In Germany all of the major parties are loosely associated with research foundations that play some role in shaping policy, but generally from the more disinterested role of providing research to support policymakers than explicitly proposing policy.

Greece

In Greece there are numerous think tanks[9], which are usually called research organisations or institutes, with some of them being related with political parties or named after political leaders.

See also: List of Greek think tanks.

Netherlands

Just like in Germany, all of the major parties in the Netherlands are associated with research foundations that play a role in shaping policy.

Spain

In Spain, think tanks are progressively raising their public profile.

Turkey

Turkish think tanks are relatively new. Many of them are sister organizations of a political party or a company. University think tanks are not typical think tanks. Most of Turkish think tanks provide research and ideas yet they play less important roles in policy making when compared with the American think tanks.

United Kingdom

In Britain, think tanks play a similar role to the United States, attempting to shape policy, and indeed there is some cooperation between British and American think tanks.

See also: List of UK think tanks.


United States think tanks

See List of US think tanks (liberal, conservative, libertarian and centrist categories)

Think tanks in the United States play an important role in forming both foreign and domestic policy. Typically, an issue such as national missile defense will be debated within and among think tanks and the results of these debates will influence government policy makers. Think tanks in the United States generally receive funding from private donors, and members of private organizations. Think tanks may feel more free to propose and debate controversial ideas than people within government.

Although think tanks span the political spectrum, liberal critics charge that conservative think tanks are far more prevalent than their progressive counterparts. To this, conservatives respond that liberals are present in greater numbers on university faculties. In an annual survey, the liberal media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) lists the 25 think tanks most often cited in the mainstream media. Their data for 2006 show that the most-cited think tank was the Brookings Institution, followed by the Council on Foreign Relations, the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Of these top five, the FAIR regards the first two as centrist and the next three as conservative. Regarding media citations of think tanks more generally, the FAIR found 45% to be centrist, 40% conservative or center-right, and 16% liberal or center-left.

Government

Government think tanks are also important in the United States, particularly in the security and defense field. These include the Institute for National Strategic Studies, Institute for Homeland Security Studies, and the Center for Technology and National Security Policy, at the National Defense University; the Center for Naval Warfare Studies at the Naval War College and the Strategic Studies Institute at the U.S. Army War College.

The government funds, wholly or in part, activities at approximately 30 Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs). FFRDCs, are unique independent nonprofit entities sponsored and funded by the U.S. government to meet specific long-term technical needs that cannot be met by any other single organization. FFRDCs typically assist government agencies with scientific research and analysis, systems development, and systems acquisition. They bring together the expertise and outlook of government, industry, and academia to solve complex technical problems. These FFRDCs include the MITRE Corporation, the Institute for Defense Analyses, the Aerospace Corporation and others organizations supporting various departments within the U.S. Government.

Similar to the above quasi-governmental organizations are Federal Advisory Committees. These groups, sometimes referred to as commissions, are a form of think tank dedicated to advising the US Presidents or the Executive branch of government. They typically focus on a specific issue and as such, might be considered similar to special interest groups. However, unlike special interest groups these committees have come under some oversight regulation and are required to make formal records available to the public. Approximately 1,000 these advisory committees are described in the FACA searchable database.

Other countries

Egypt

The Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) Acting as the Egyptian Cabinet Think Tank…its mission is to impartially support the government decisions through advice on best policy scenario mix and analytical research to improve the socio-economic well-being of the Egyptian society.

Ghana

Ghana is been known globally as center of research and scholarship. This is reflected in having some of the leading universities in Africa such as the University of Ghana and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. Ghana's first president, Dr.Kwame Nkrumah set up various state supported thinktanks in the 1960s such as the Cocoa Research Institute and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. By the 1990s a variety of policy research centers sprang up in Accra. These were in the main set up by academics who sort to influence public policy in Ghana. The input of such centers have become very significant in public discourse on policy issues in Ghana in contemporary times.

Russia

Russian think tanks have experienced a precipitous decline over the past five years. Think tanks under the Soviet Union, analogous to their American counterparts, grew to play a significant role in strategic policy formation. During the era of glasnost, begun by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and continuing under Russian President Boris Yeltsin, public think tanks and policy organizations underwent a brief blooming. However, as economic problems intensified under Yeltsin, and political pressure on public organizations grew under President Vladimir Putin, most of the Russian think tanks have withered away while those who stood closer to Kremlin saw a recent revival.

Australia

Most Australian think tanks are based at universities - for example, the Melbourne Institute - or are government funded - for example, the Productivity Commission or the CSIRO.

There are also about 20-30 "independent" Australian think tanks, which are funded by private sources. The best-known of these think tanks play a much more limited role in Australian public and business policy making than in the United States. However, in the past decade the number of think tanks has increased substantially.

Notes

  1. ^ see The American Heritage Dictionary. "Think Tank." 2000. and Merriam Webster's Dictionary. "Think Tank."
  2. ^ • Diane Stone ‘Think Tanks and Policy Analysis’, in Frank Fischer, Gerald J. Miller. & Mara S. Sidney (eds.) Handbook of Public Policy Analysis: Theory, Methods, and Politics, New York, Marcel Dekker Inc. 2006: 149-157
  3. ^ NIRA's World Directory of Think Tanks 2002: Introduction
  4. ^ News: Discovery's Creation (Seattle Weekly)
  5. ^ Politicized Scholars Put Evolution on the Defensive - New York Times
  6. ^ Access : : Nature
  7. ^ http://www.tobaccoscam.ucsf.edu/pdf/9.6-Ong%26Glantz-JunkScience.pdf
  8. ^ How Big Tobacco Helped Create "the Junkman" | Center for Media and Democracy
  9. ^ Greek Institutes And Think Tanks

See also

Additional reading

  • Abelson, Donald E. Do Think Tanks Matter? Assessing the Impact of Public Policy Institutes. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2002.
  • Boucher, Stephen, et al, Europe and its think tanks; a promise to be fulfilled. An analysis of think tanks specialised in European policy issues in the enlarged European Union, Studies and Research No 35, October, Paris, Notre Europe, 2004 [1]
  • Cockett, Richard, Thinking the unthinkable: think tanks and the economic counter revolution; 1931 - 1983, London: Fontana, 1995
  • Dickson, Paul. "Think Tanks". New York: Ballantine Books, 1972. 397 pages.
  • Goodman, John C. "What is a Think Tank?" National Center for Policy Analysis, 2005.[2]
  • Fan, Maureen. "Capital Brain Trust Puts Stamp on the World", Washington Post (16 May 2005): B01.[3]
  • Patrick Dixon. Futurewise - Six Faces of Global Change - issues covered by Think Tanks and methodology for reviewing trends, impact on policy 2003): Profile Books
  • Hellebust, Lynn and Kristen Hellebust, editors. Think Tank Directory: A Guide to Independent Nonprofit Public Policy Research Organizations. Topeka, Kansas: Government Research Service, 2006 (2nd edition).
  • Lakoff, George. Moral Politics: What Conservatives Know That Liberals Don't. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996.
  • Ladi, Stella. Globalisation, Policy Transfer And Policy Research Institutes, Edward Elgar, 2005.
  • McGann, James. The International Survey of Think Tanks. Philadelphia: FPRI, 1999.
  • McGann, James. Think Tanks and Civil Societies: Catalyst for Ideas and Action. Co-edited with Kent B.Weaver. Transaction Publishers, 2000.
  • McGann, James. Comparative Think Tanks, Politics and Public Policy. Edward Elgar, 2005.
  • McGann, James. Think Tanks and Policy Advice in the U.S: Academics, Advisors and Advocates. London: Routledge, 2007.
  • McGann, James. Think Tanks: Catalysts for Democratization and Market Reform. Forthcoming.
  • McGann, James. Global Trends and Transitions: 2007 Survey of Think Tanks. Philadelphia: FPRI, 2008.
  • McGann, James. The Global Go To Think Tanks. Philadelphia: FPRI 2008.
  • Smith, James. A. The Idea Brokers: Think Tanks and the Rise of the New Policy Elite, New York: The Free Press, 1991.
  • Stone, Diane. Capturing the Political Imagination: Think Tanks and the Policy Process, London: Frank Cass, 1996
  • Stone, Diane. ‘Garbage Cans, Recycling Bins or Think Tanks? Three Myths about Policy Institutes’, Public Administration, 85(2) 2007: 259-278
  • Stone, Diane, and Andrew Denham, eds. Think Tank Traditions: Policy Research and the Politics of Ideas. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2004.
  • Struyk, Raymond J. Managing Think Tanks: Practical Guidance for Maturing Organizations, Budapest, Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative Washington DC., Urban Institute 2002
  • UNDP – United Nations Development Program. Thinking the Unthinkable, Bratislava, UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, 2003

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