Do Think Tanks Still Matter? Myths and Reality of Think Tank Influence in the Digital Age

Abstract

By bridging knowledge and politics, think tanks are considered to be at the centre of the circulation of ideas. Think tanks are regarded as being able to push forward specific policies at both national and international levels thanks to the authority of their expertise. Yet, while the industry of ranking mechanisms evaluating think tank impact on policy-making is flourishing, academic literature specifically addressing the issue of their political influence is still lacking. Moreover, some scholars have highlighted how think tanks and experts are instrumentalised by decision-makers to legitimate their decisions and therefore, question the authoritative essence of their expertise. Furthermore, the dissemination of information and ideas is now facilitated by new information technologies, which creates both opportunities and risks for think tank’s operation. Through the role and positions of think tanks, the question of ‘authoritative knowledge’ with regard to decision-makers remains to be explored. Accordingly, this panel intends to question the role and practices of think tanks in the digital age, as well as to assess and question their influence on policy-making at national, European or global levels. More generally, the papers in this panel discuss think tanks empirically, methodologically as well as theoretically.

Title	Details
The Freiburg Center for European Policy (CEP): A European Conservative-Neoliberal Legal Movement in the Making?	View Paper Details
Assessing the Interactions Between Experts and Practitioners in Security, the Case Study of Think Tanks’ Interaction with NATO	View Paper Details
the Nexus Between the Governments of the Baltic States and Think Tanks in Foreign and Security Policies	View Paper Details
The Transnational Field of European Think Tanks: “Insiders” and “Outsiders” in the EU Policy-Making	View Paper Details
2.0. Think Tanks’ Public Relations Strategies and Collective Claim to Represent and Address ‘Civil Society’	View Paper Details
How They (Could) Matter? Economic Policy Think Tanks in Germany and the United States and Their Strategies of Policy Advice	View Paper Details