Do Think Tanks Matter?: Assessing the Impact of Public Policy Institutes, Third Edition

Donald E. Abelson

ISBN 10: 0773553258 / ISBN 13: 9780773553255

Published by McGill-Queen?s University Press, 2018

About this Item

2018. 3rd ed. Paperback. . . . . .

Seller Inventory # V9780773553255

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Do Think Tanks Matter?: Assessing the Impact of Public Policy Institutes, Third Edition
• Publisher: McGill-Queen?s University Press
• Publication Date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0773553258
• ISBN 13: 9780773553255
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

It is often assumed that think tanks carry enormous weight with lawmakers and other key stakeholders. In Do Think Tanks Matter? Donald Abelson argues that the question of how think tanks have evolved and under what conditions they can and do have an impact continues to be ignored.

Think tank directors often credit their institutes with influencing major policy debates and government legislation, and many journalists and scholars believe the explosion of think tanks since the latter part of the twentieth century is indicative of their growing importance in the policy-making process. Abelson goes beyond assumptions, highlighting both the visibility and relevance of public policy institutes in what has become a contentious and polarized political arena in the United States, and in Canada, where, despite recent growth in numbers, they enjoy less prominence than their US counterparts. By focusing on how think tanks engage in issue articulation, policy formation, and implementation, Abelson argues that they have helped to shape the political dialogue and the policy preferences and choices of decision-makers, but in different ways and at different stages of the policy cycle.

This expanded and revised third edition includes additional institutional profiles of key think tanks, an updated chapter on presidents and think tanks, a new chapter on the efforts of a group of public policy institutes to shape the discourse around the possible construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, and dozens of new graphs and tables that track the public visibility and perceived policy relevance or impact of top-tier think tanks.

About the Author

Donald E. Abelson is academic director of the Wilson College of Leadership and Civic Engagement and professor of political science at McMaster University.