Critical Perspectives on Think Tanks: Power, Politics and Knowledge (Advances in Critical Policy Studies series)

"This innovative book explores think tanks from the perspective of critical policy studies, showcasing how knowledge, power and politics intersect with the ways in which think tanks intervene in public policy. Expert contributors offer multidisciplinary analyses of the history of policy advice and expertise and highlight recent examples of how think tanks navigate public debates, political arenas and the backstage of decision-making. They provide an overview of historical developments in the emergence and evolution of think tanks and consider how current think tanks produce policy narratives and exercise influence through the power of ideas. Focusing on institutional structures and social forces, chapters explain how national and transnational think tank landscapes are organized and how think tanks shape knowledge production infrastructure in different governance contexts. The book concludes that evaluating this infrastructure is crucial for ensuring that policy discourse serves collective interests and inclusive policy learning in diverse democratic polities. This book's evaluation of the impact of think tanks on expertise, democracy and social justice, while utilizing rigorous empirical research, will be useful for scholars and students of public policy, political theory and public administration and management. It will also be beneficial for think tankers and policy analysts"-- Quatrième de couverture This innovative book explores think tanks from the perspective of critical policy studies, showcasing how knowledge, power and politics intersect with the ways in which think tanks intervene in public policy. Expert contributors offer multidisciplinary analyses of the history of policy advice and expertise and highlight recent examples of how think tanks navigate public debates, political arenas and the backstage of decision-making. They provide an overview of historical developments in the emergence and evolution of think tanks and consider how current think tanks produce policy narratives and exercise influence through the power of ideas. Focusing on institutional structures and social forces, chapters explain how national and transnational think tank landscapes are organized and how think tanks shape knowledge production infrastructure in different governance contexts. The book concludes that evaluating this infrastructure is crucial for ensuring that policy discourse serves collective interests and inclusive policy learning in diverse democratic polities. This book's evaluation of the impact of think tanks on expertise, democracy and social justice, while utilizing rigorous empirical research, will be useful for scholars and students of public policy, political theory and public administration and management. It will also be beneficial for think tankers and policy analysts. -- Provided by publisher Front Matter Copyright Contents Figures Tables Contributors 1. An introduction to critical studies of think tanks PART I Think tanks and the transformation of policy expertise 2. How advocacy tanks wrote the latest chapter in the history of political intellectuals 3. From private advice to public policy? The evolution of consultancy think tanks PART II Brokering access, marketing knowledge 4. Democracy, civil society and the strategies pursued by think tanks in Mexico 5. In the backstage of influence and ‘policy marketing.’ Collusive transactions and action-oriented knowledge at Epode European Network 6. An uphill battle: think tanks, Donald Trump and the war of ideas PART III Discourse, power, influence 7. Interplays of economic and knowledge power. Neoliberal think tank networks and the return and universalization of entrepreneurship 8. Think tanks and the turnaround of the right in Brazil 9. Think tanks as governance entrepreneurs: institutionalizing human rights in ASEAN PART IV Spheres of truth and systems of knowledge 10. Politics by the same means? Think tanks, polarization and the road to post-truth in the United States and Canada 11. Widening the gap: US think tanks and the manufactured chasm between scientific expertise and common sense on climate change 12. Towards an epistemic evaluation of think tank ecosystems: the case of epistemic justice Index