Think Tanks, Public Policy, and the Politics of Expertise

While the number of think tanks active in American politics has more than quadrupled since the 1970s, their influence has not expanded proportionally. In many cases, think tanks have become more marketing than research organizations, with styles of behavior that mimic interest groups more than universities. Rather than organizations committed to objective analysis of policy problems, think tanks have become organizations that turn experts into advocates and policy information into ammunition. The book explains this paradox and elaborates on its significant implications. The analysis is based on 135 in-depth interviews with officials at think tanks and those in the policymaking and funding organizations that draw upon and support their work. The book reports on results from an original survey of congressional staff and journalists and detailed case studies of the role of experts in health care and telecommunications reform debates in the 1990s and tax reform in 2001.