Think Tanks - Research Paper Example

Think Tank: The Policy Institute Outline Paragraph I (Introduction) 1. Leading sentence: “I define think tank as independent, non-interest-based, nonprofit organizations that produce and principally rely on expertise and ideas to obtain support and to influence the policymaking process” (Rich, 11). 2. Summary of main points: What is think tank and what is their objective. Paragraph II (First Supporting Point) 1. Transition sentence: “Different people have different attitude towards think tank which sometimes conflicts with each other.” 2. Supporting point: Think tank experienced both appreciation as well as criticism. 3. Evidence: Quotes from famous people clear this point. Paragraph III (Second Supporting Point) 1. Transition sentence: “Think tanks play an essential role in political field, public policies, military advices, science and technological issues and also business policies.” 2. Supporting point: Role of think tank. 3. Evidence: Think tank’s involvement in different policy making procedures whether domestic or international. Paragraph IV (Third Supporting Point) 1. Transition sentence: “Though the term ‘think tank’ is not very old, the concept was devised a long ago.” 2. Supporting point: History of think tank. 3. Evidence: Think tank’s origination and their growth in past years with examples. Paragraph V (Fourth Supporting Point) 1. Transition sentence: “Think tanks always have been a major part while formulating US policies whether it is domestic or foreign policy.” 2. Supporting point: History of think tank in US 3. Evidence: Think tank’s expansion in US with examples. Paragraph VI (Fifth Supporting Point) 1. Transition sentence: “Everything of a country is affected by its own cultural influences; ‘think tank’ is not an exception.” 2. Supporting point: Description of think tank region wise. 3. Evidence: Different facts influencing the development of think tanks in different part of the world. Paragraph VII (Sixth Supporting Point) 1. Transition sentence: “By examining every aspect of ‘think tank’ such as its affiliation structure, strategic involvement, cultural influences we can categorize it in to four types” 2. Supporting point: Types of think tank from structure wise. 3. Evidence: Different categories of think tanks with examples. Paragraph VIII (Seventh Supporting Point) 1. Transition sentence: “If we consider ideological perspective of think tank it can be divided into 4 types. Let us look into the types and some of the examples.” 2. Supporting point: Categories of think tank from ideological perspective. 3. Evidence: Different categories of think tanks with examples. Paragraph IX (Eighth Supporting Point) 1. Transition sentence: “Think tank has a significant importance in policy analysis and decision making. Though ‘think tanks’ exist in a large number in various countries, especially in US and Western Europe, they are still in demand.” 2. Supporting point: Importance of think tank. 3. Evidence: Reason for which think tanks are important. Paragraph X (Ninth Supporting Point) 1. Transition sentence: “Now we will concentrate on the policy making strategies used in ‘think tank’.” 2. Supporting point: Policy making process of think tank. 3. Evidence: Steps involved in policy making and activity in each step. Paragraph XI (Tenth Supporting Point) 1. Transition sentence: “Now let us discuss about funding of ‘think tank’.” 2. Supporting point: Funding of think tank. 3. Evidence: Types and amount of endorsement think tank achieve along with last year’s top budgeted think tanks. Paragraph XII (Eleventh Supporting Point) 1. Transition sentence: “In the modern world, money is the jack of all trades. The huge amount of money involved in think tanks, naturally attract more people towards it.” 2. Supporting point: Business approach to think tank. 3. Evidence: How to start and maintain a think tank with various innovative ideas. Paragraph XIII (Twelfth Supporting Point) 1. Transition sentence: “As think tanks are growing rapidly, demand of qualified researcher is also increasing.” 2. Supporting point: Job opportunity for think tank. 3. Evidence: Not only scholars are getting opportunity, others have scope also. Paragraph XIV (Conclusion) 1. Transition sentence: “As there is much confusion about the ultimate impact and influence of think tank in policy making, it is difficult to draw a convinced conclusion.” 2. Reiteration of main points: In spite of criticism think tank is important for policy making 3. Taking it one step further: If think tanks understand their duty they can be more effective in improving public life in future. “I define think tank as independent, non-interest-based, nonprofit organizations that produce and principally rely on expertise and ideas to obtain support and to influence the policymaking process” (Rich, 11). Think tanks are organizations or institutes that analyze different public policy issues, including domestic and international, and provide guidance to the policy makers to make well-versed decisions. Think tanks, also known as policy institute, may be affiliated to government, or be independent non-profit group, or be associated to a profit-making business entity. Whatever it is, the primary mission of think tank is to serve the public interest by performing research on different critical issues and invent new ideas which help decision makers to take swift and appropriate decisions. Different people have different attitude towards think tank which sometimes conflicts with each other. According to John Chuckman, the journalist of Yellow Times.org, think tanks are “phony institutes where ideologue-propagandists pose as academics…[into which] money gushes like blood from open arteries to support meaningless advertising’s suffocation of genuine debate”. By this comment we can easily understand that Mr. Chuckman was not a great supporter of ‘think tank’. But many people have exactly contradictory opinion. For example, National Institute for Research Advancement, a think tank itself, interpreted 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”. This comment is entirely supporting the concept of ‘think tank’. So it is solely the choice of individuals whether to support the notion of think tank or not. Think tanks play an essential role in political field, public policies, military advices, science and technological issues and also business policies. These foundations act as a bridge between the government and the public, as its major role is to help the government to understand the concerned issue. After identifying and assessing the policy issue, it is the think tank which suggests a technique for framing the issue. The role of think tanks also include estimating government programs, perform research, writing books and articles, publishing the outcome of their research, carrying out required activities by conducting seminars and workshops and many more. Even there are many cases where think tanks become an integral component of government policy making procedure. Though the term ‘think tank’ is not very old, the concept was devised a long ago. The British institute, Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), established by Duke of Wellington in the year 1831 is considered as a first think tank. In the last few decades the growth of think tank has increased tremendously, especially in the later part of 20th century the number of think tank exploded. The growth of ‘think tank’ was not limited in numbers only, the capability and impact of their work also amplified in a significant amount. Think tanks showed immense activity to fulfill the need of policymakers and the general public and provided required information that is reasonable, consistent, accessible, and practical. As a result ‘think tank’ succeeded to attract non-government organizations as well to invest for them. Think tanks always have been a major part while formulating US policies whether it is domestic or foreign policy. If you follow the growth of think tank in US, you will be surprised. At the end of 1970, the total number of think tanks in US was 161 only, but within 38 years the number increased to 1176. “Some policymakers, particularly in the United States, are so impressed with think tanks that they decide to make them their permanent home after completing their public service”(Abelson, 81). The main reason behind the popularity of think tank in US is the decentralized and pluralistic nature of American politics for which public lost faith over the government. Through ‘think tank’ public found a way to help government to take proper decisions on different critical issues. As different political parties fail to maintain discipline, the interest of general public leaned to these policy institutions rather than political parties. The format of ‘think tank’ is another reason for its popularity. The non-profit think tanks bang on the philanthropic nature of human resulting into a drastic fame as well as high revenue by means of charity. Everything of a country is affected by its own cultural influences; ‘think tank’ is not an exception. It differs in structure, operational environment, and policy domain as well in many different aspects in different regions of the world. Also, the regulation and funding resources are not equal in all parts of the world. As we already discussed about US, now we will focus in think tanks region wise other than US - European Region: Most of the think tanks in Europe are affiliated to political parties and their main focus is on national integration and foreign policies. Other than United States, Western Europe has the largest number of think tank. Think tanks from Europe, has a great understanding with the policy makers and gain utmost funding from government. As the support of government is with them, every year leading think tanks of Europe publish different books. Independent think tanks are also present in Europe, which accumulate funds from private companies and general public. So, we can see, think tanks of European region enjoy a supportive environment. Chatham House from UK, the European Policy Center (EPC) and the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) from Brussels, Hellenic Centre for European Studies (EKEM) from Greece are some examples of European think tanks. Asia: The total number of think tank in Asia is well below 1000 till 2008. Most of the Asian think tanks are government supported and targeted to solve economical, strategic or security issues. In recent past very few organizations are boomed as independent think tank. Institute of Defense Studies and Analyses (IDSA) associated with Indian defense ministry, Centre for International Affairs from Bangladesh are Asian think tank. Russia: Russia has a depressing environment from the think tank perspective. After communist period, highly qualified scholars and intellectuals involved themselves in policy making process, but failed to serve public as they had no support from government. So, it is clear that the environment in Russia is not suitable for think tank at all. Africa: Think tanks are not so admired in Africa as well if we compare it with Europe and United States of America. Few think tanks, which exist, focus on domestic issues such as financial system, health and crime restrictions. Now-a-days general public and private companies are showing some interest in independent think tanks. By examining every aspect of ‘think tank’ such as its affiliation structure, strategic involvement, cultural influences we can categorize it in to four types: 1. Academic: Academic think tanks can be further classified into two sections: Academic Diversified: As the name suggests these think tanks are involved in research of a broader range of issues by not limiting themselves into few popular categories such as foreign policy, economics and environment. As being in the academic category they are more supportive to academic communities and they work similarly as in any academic institutions. The quality of the output of these think tanks is really very high as scholars are involved in the research and they research for a long time frame. This type of organizations are independent of government and political parties, they only respect the academic discipline. The Brookings Institution, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) are few examples of academic diversified think tank. Academic-specialized: Where academic diversified think tanks focus on broader issues, academic-specialized think tanks focus on a solitary issue such as foreign policy or welfare reform. Everything else of this category is similar to the first one. The only difference is that, these think tanks perform research on specialized subject and they produce result which is client oriented. Examples of such think tank are the Hamburg Institute for Economic Research and National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). 2. Contract research: Contract research think tanks are mostly affiliated to government agencies. They are tied in contract with corresponding agencies and provide consultancy in different policies. They focus on objective policy analysis rather than research. As the researchers are bounded by contract, they have to follow many restrictions in arena of production schedule as well as research methodology. Research and Development (R&D) and Urban Institute are two contract research think tanks which contain a large amount of government contracts. 3. Advocacy and policy enterprise: Advocacy Enterprise: These organizations focus on endorsement of specific vision and their analysis also supports this vision strongly. Their goal is to promote the idea of the constituency or party for which they are working. They operate in issue driven way and they avoid academic policy analysis. The Cato Institute and Citizens for a Sound Economy are examples of these types of think tank. Policy Enterprise: The task of these think tanks includes marketing of policy according to the need of policymaker. This is a business approach to think tank. These organizations are highly effective in short term goal and focus on management of policy. The Heritage Foundation and the Economic Policy Institute are two policy enterprises. 4. Hybrid Think Tank: Since think tanks are facing new challenges every now and then, they are also in search of new ways for improvement. Hybrid institution is a part of such development step. It merge all benefits of academic, contract research and advocacy and policy enterprise into a single institution. As a result better performance is provided by hybrid think tanks. If we consider ideological perspective of think tank it can be divided into 4 types. Let us look into the types and some of the examples. 1. Conservative: These think tanks adopt a free market economic policy along with conventional social policy. Example: Heritage Foundation, Hoover Institution, National Center of Policy Analysis, Hudson Institute. 2. Libertarian: These think tanks highlight on economics, and no scope is given to government in social policy. Example: Reason Foundation and Cato Institute. 3. Centrist: Centrist think tanks emphasizes on segregated and unbiased approach to policy resulting in a high quality outcome. Example: Council of Foreign Relations, Economic Strategy Institute, Freedom Forum, Public Policy Institute of California. 4. Progressive: Progressive think tanks are similar to conservative one, but the approach of progressive think tank is more independent than conservative think tank. Example: Center for American Progress, Justice Policy Institute, Center for Public Integrity, Institute of Policy Studies. ‘Think tank’ has a significant importance in policy analysis and decision making. Though ‘think tanks’ exist in a large number in various countries, especially in US and Western Europe, they are still in demand. Let us find out the reasons: Now-a-days governments of every country are undergoing an incredible pressure in order to improve financial and technical performance. Naturally, to reduce stress the governments are relying on ‘think tank’ to analyze critical issues and advice on decision making. So, you can understand how important ‘think tank’ is! Several crucial decisions made by the government officials on various levels are based on the analysis and suggestion of think tank. In some sensitive issues, ‘think tanks’ are more flexible and proficient than government agencies in producing outcome in a time bound manner. In such controversial cases, government agencies ask think tank to participate in policy research and effective decision making. In modern era, the advanced technologies are also helping to increase the importance of ‘think tank’. Now, they have a better scope to transmit their works and improve public relations through communication networks over internet. Now we will concentrate on the policy making strategies used in ‘think tank’. Think tanks are made up of expert scholars and intellectuals who plays major role in the policy making process. The policy process is composed of three stages: Issue Articulation: In this stage the concerned issue is shared with public through different media and network channels, opinions are collected on current policies and expose the issue as a public agenda. Policy Formulation: In this stage, thorough research and evaluation of the issue is performed by scholars in order to formulate the policy. Consultation with the policy maker and demonstration of possible effects of the policy are carried out in this stage. Policy Implementation: In this stage ‘think tank’ publicize their suggestions using different media. In the shake of implementation of policy, ‘think tank’ also provides required training and support executives. Now let us discuss about funding of ‘think tank’. Think tanks are financed by government agencies or private organizations. There are also many non-profit think tanks which do not have to pay taxes in countries like US and Canada. By thoroughly studying the budget range of ‘think tank’ these days, it is clear that they have no shortage of funding. The reason is simple. Think tank has a great business value. Business promotion through ‘think tank’ is a popular idea now-a-days. To please these private donors, think tanks also grant more priority to the advancement of the donor. In this mutual consideration, think tanks never face lack of funding. Now, let us explore budgets of some top think tanks in the year 2008. First we look into some non-US think tank. A think tank from London named ‘Overseas Development Institute’ had a budget of $25.9 million last year. Another top budgeted think tank from the same country is ‘International Institute for Strategic Studies’ with the budget of $15.3 million in 2008. Now let us talk about some US think tanks. ‘Rand Corporation’ from California is far ahead from the budget perspective as it had a budget of $251 million last year. Other two think tanks from Washington which enjoyed high budget last year are ‘Brooking Institution’ and ‘Heritage Foundation’ with the budget $60.7 million and $48.4 million respectively. So, you can see how money is flowing, when ‘think tank’ is in the business. In the modern world, money is the jack of all trades. The huge amount of money involved in think tanks, naturally attract more people towards it. Now, people are considering ‘think tank’ as a business itself. Starting a think tank is not a tough job at all, since there is no regulation to follow. If you are from US or Canada and you want to start a non-profit organization then you don’t even have to pay tax to government. But if you think by creating think tank you will soon be a gainer, then you are wrong. There are so many think tanks in the world, varying in size and domain, but all of them are not equally popular. The reputation of a think tank depends on their impact and influences on general public as well as on policy making. So if you want to establish a think tank you have to start with a strategic planning similar to a business or marketing plan. But one thing you have to realize that think tank and business are not exactly same. In business companies compete to sell their product by publicizing the quality of their product and gain profit. But in think tank, products are replaced by innovative ideas. The quality of your idea will be measured, not only that, how your idea and suggestion will improve the public policy, will also be quantified. Another fact you have to keep in your mind that the prime responsibility of every think tank is improving public life by helping policy maker. “In brief, it is necessary to raise money, hire a staff of experts, facilitate their investigations into policy related matters, and publicize the results”(Ricci, 3). So, for innovative ideas you have to hire some qualified and specialist people, they may be scholar, policy predictor, marketing executive or journalist. The next step is to decide your issue domain. Whatever be your domain, you try to take on key policy issues in which general public are interested. Next step is a vital one, as you have to find out sponsor for you. In initial stages collecting funds may be difficult as a huge number of think tanks are already in market, but later based on your performance and reputation you will get funds easily. Now it’s time for some publicity. The advancement of technology gives you a great opportunity to communicate with the world by spending a little money. If you are run out of financial resources, then internet is the most suitable channel for you. As internet is wealthy by vast resources, by using internet, your researchers can perform more extensive research and your organization can publicize its work and share its agenda as well. You have to impress both public and policy maker with the quality of your research and policy proposal. As think tanks are growing rapidly, demand of qualified researcher is also increasing. Along with scholars and intellectuals, there is a huge scope for marketing executives, journalists, peoples from advertising field and many more. As there is much confusion about the ultimate impact and influence of think tank in policy making, it is difficult to draw a convinced conclusion. In spite of harsh criticism, in Europe and US, think tanks are successful to achieve their goal. Several think tanks are spread throughout the world; some of them are working on security issues, some are entirely independent and some are strongly partisan. The fact is inevitable that think tanks are not limited in paper works; they are more active than that. The higher level authorities of government sector of some countries also admire the precious and innovative ideas produced by the think tank’s intellectuals. As a result, in countries like US and UK, think tanks are playing major role in policy making procedure. The appreciation and support they are getting from government actually inspire them. If government authorities from all countries realize the benefit of think tank and motivate them, it will be an advantage for their own country and citizens. As every think tank is not equally enthusiastic the result is reflected in their reputation. While some think tanks are changing the public lives, others have yet to prove their efficiency. Whatever it is, think tank has already entered as a vital element in our society. Now, the positive or negative impression of think tanks depends on their decision of giving more value to money or public. Works Cited 1. Andrew Rich Think Tanks, Public Policy, and the Politics of Expertise Cambridge University Press, 2004 2. David M. Ricci The Transformation of American Politics: The New Washington and the Rise of Think Tanks Yale University Press, 1993 3. Donald E. Abelson Do think tanks matter?:Assessing the Impact of Public Policy Institute McGill-Queen's University Press, 2002 4. Harold Evensky, Deena B Katz The Investment Think Tank: Theory, Strategy, and Practice For Advisers Bloomberg Press, 2004 5. Napoleon Hill, Arthur Pell Think and Grow Rich: The Landmark Bestseller--Now Revised and Updated for the 21st Century [ABRIDGED] Tarcher, 1937 6. James G. McGann THE GLOBAL"GO-TO THINK TANKS” The Leading Public Policy Research Organizations in the World 2007, fpri.org. 20 May, 2009 < http://www.fpri.org/research/thinktanks/mcgann.globalgotothinktanks.pdf> 7. Article started by Sheldon Rampton Think tanks 17 Jan, 2003 sourcewatch.org. 21 May, 2009 < http://sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_tanks > Read More