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Think Tanks, Foreign Policy and Geo-Politics- Front Cover -- Think Tanks, Foreign Policy and Geo-Politics -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- List of figures -- List of tables -- Notes on contributors -- Chapter 1: Struggling to be heard: The crowded and complex world of foreign-policy-oriented think tanks -- Introduction -- The paradox of plenty -- Measuring influence -- Pathways to influence -- Key findings -- Notes -- References -- Chapter 2: Feulner's pendulum: Moving between policy research and political advocacy -- Introduction

"With an estimated 1830 think tanks stretched across its 50 states and close to 400 public policy institutes in Washington, D.C. alone, the United States possesses the largest concentration of think tanks on the globe. But despite being home to several prominent think tanks such as the Brookings Institution, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Rand Corporation, think tanks are not a uniquely American phenomenon. Indeed, institutes with considerable expertise in the broad fields of domestic and foreign policy have taken root in virtually every country in the world. Although often overlooked, Canada's think tank population represents a highly diverse and eclectic group of organizations that have made their presence felt in key policy-making circles. This study explores the rise of think tanks in Canada and addresses many of the most commonly asked questions about how, and under circumstances, they are able to affect policy change. Heading North is both a primer for those looking to understand the role and function of think tanks in the policy-making process and a guide to several of the leading policy institutes in the country. Recognizing the premium think tanks in Canada place on political advocacy over policy research, this study also seeks to explain why these organizations are well suited and equipped to shape public opinion and public policy. It represents the first comprehensive examination of think tanks in Canada and contributes to our knowledge of what is often described as the global think tank phenomenon."--

Abelson focuses on a host of high profile think tanks - including the Brookings Institution, the Heritage Foundation, and the Project for the New American Century - and on the public and private channels they rely on to influence important and controversial foreign policies, including the development and possible deployment of a National Missile Defense and George Bush's controversial war on terror. In the process of uncovering how some of the nation's most prominent think tanks have established themselves as key players in the political arena, he challenges traditional approaches to assessing policy influence and suggests alternative models.

Do Think Tanks Matter? evaluates the influence and relevance of public policy institutes in today's political arena. Many journalists and scholars believe the explosion of think tanks in the latter part of the twentieth century indicates their growing importance in the policy-making process. This perception has been reinforced by directors of think tanks, who often credit their institutes with influencing major policy debates and government legislation. Yet the basic question of how and in what way they influence public policy has, Donald Abelson contends, frequently been ignored. Abelson studies the experiences of think tanks in the United States, where they have become an integral feature of the political landscape, and in Canada, where their numbers have grown considerably in recent years but where, compared to their U.S. counterparts, they enjoy less prominence in policy-making. By focusing on the policy cycle, issue articulation (that is, getting issues on the political agenda) and policy formation and implementation (actually affecting the outcome of policies already on the political agenda), he argues that think tanks have sometimes played an important role in shaping the political dialogue and the policy preferences and choices of decision-makers, but often in different ways and at different stages of the policy cycle.

The rise of think-tanks in the United States, in Europe and around the world has generated considerable scholarly attention in recent years. Much of this interest has been fuelled by the widespread belief that these institutions have come to play an increasingly influential role in shaping both public opinion and the domestic and foreign policy preferences and choices of high-level decision-makers. This perception was reinforced when several think-tanks with close ties to the administrations of President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair advocated a far more muscular posture towards Iraq in the months and years following the events of 9/1ya. As think-tanks on both sides of the Atlantic continue their efforts to become more entrenched in the policy-making process, scholars are beginning to pay closer attention to how these institutions, established ostensibly to engage in policy research, have become even more adept at political advocacy. Not surprisingly, as think-tanks have devoted more resources to affecting policy change, speculation about how much or little influence they wield has become more intense. The purpose of this article is to explore the evolution and transformation of foreign affairs think-tanks in North America and Europe since the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and to highlight, by relying on specific foreign and defence policy issues, the extent to which a handful of think-tanks have been able to become important fixtures in the policy-making community. (International Affairs (Oxford) / SWP)

Examines the purpose & influence of think tanks in public policy making in Canada, particularly during the constitutional conferences of 1992. The background information on the events leading up to the creation of the constitutional conferences provides context to the involvement of think tanks in the debate. The characteristics & roles of think tanks, including their functions & efforts to reach certain audiences, are scrutinized. The impact of think tanks on public policy is assessed. L. Collins Leigh