This important Handbook is a comprehensive guide to the role, function and perceived impact of policy research-oriented institutions in North America, Europe and beyond. Over two-dozen international scholars explore the diverse and eclectic world of think tanks to reveal their structure, governance and unique position in occupying a critical space on the public policy landscape. This Handbook serves as a reference point for understanding how think tanks shape public opinion and public policy, and how their directors help them navigate their way through an increasingly crowded marketplace of ideas. It also considers how these organizations enlist various actors (such as policy makers, the media, donors and industry leaders) to influence the discourse around key domestic and foreign policy issues. Handbook on Think Tanks in Public Policy is an invaluable resource for academics and students who wish to further their understanding of how to measure the impact and reach of think tanks. It will also be useful for policymakers and NGOs who are interested in the expertise think tanks can offer on policy-related issues and to donors, whose main goals and objectives may be advanced by these organisations.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Introduction to the Handbook on Think Tanks in Public Policy xviii Donald E. Abelson and Christopher J. Rastrick PART I THE STUDY OF THINK TANKS 1 ‘Network Intellectuals’ and ‘Networked Intellectuals’: relational approaches to the study of British think tanks 2 Jordan Tchilingirian 2 Describing and comparing think tanks 16 Enrique Mendizabal 3 Methodological challenges and advances in studying think tanks 33 Jesper Dahl Kelstrup PART II MANAGING THINK TANKS: THE VIEW FROM INSIDE 4 Co-opting the interest groups 44 Madsen Pirie 5 Addressing ‘new’ think tank management problems 55 Raymond J. Struyk 6 Association to institute: AEI through four presidencies 71 Karlyn Bowman 7 American foundations, think tanks and the liberal international order 86 Inderjeet Parmar and Shihui Yin PART III INFLUENCE AND IMPACT: HOW CAN WE UNDERSTAND THINK TANK PERFORMANCE? 8 Think tanks and policy communities: analysing policy influence and learning from the analogue to the digital era 100 Evert Lindquist 9 Think tanks beyond the nation-state: policy analysis for global policy and transnational administration 119 Diane Stone 10 If it doesn’t matter, why measure it? Reflections on think tank rankings and policy influence 134 Donald E. Abelson 11 Think tanks and the politics of climate change 150 Dieter Plehwe PART IV THINK TANKS ACROSS DIFFERENT POLITICAL SYSTEMS 12 Germany’s marketplace of ideas 167 Josef Braml and Daniela Schwarzer 13 The development of think tanks in China 179 Ling Li 14 The role of think tanks in promoting foreign policy change in Israel 205 Nimrod Goren 15 The rise or demise of American think tanks? 221 Donald E. Abelson 16 What’s in a think tank’s mix of interventions? Plugging into politics and policymaking in Canada’s knowledge regime 239 Julien Landry 17 Think tanks and political-knowledge regimes in the Southern Cone: case studies from Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay 258 Adolfo Garcé García y Santos and Camilo López Burian 18 ‘Atlantic Drift’: a baseline model for American and supranational think tanks 278 Christopher J. Rastrick 19 EU think tanks: facilitating policy development in a changing environment 293 Heidi Ullrich 20 Supranational think tanks and the research agenda ahead 311 Christopher J. Rastrick PART V THINK TANKS IN POPULIST CONTEXTS 21 Think tanks confront the challenge of populism 322 Stephen Brooks 22 Trump and the foreign policy elite think tank networks 338 Naná de Graaff and Bastiaan van Apeldoorn 23 British think tanks in the time of ‘Brexit’ 354 Mark Garnett and Virgile Lorenzoni Index 369