Think tank traditions : policy research and the politics of ideas

Think tank traditions is a follow up to the critically acclaimed monograph Think tanks across nations (MUP, 1998), edited by the same authors, which was widely acknowledged as a ground-breaking work in the comparative study of think tanks.The book looks at the historical role and contemporary significance of think tanks in the West, including Europe, the United States and Canada, as well as considering their activities in China, Eastern Europe and Argentina. In so doing, the book provides a broad-based and in-depth analysis of the role of think tanks in the processes of economic liberalisation and democratisation.As well as analysing think tank activities on a country-by-country basis, three new chapters focus on levels of think tank operation and activity above and beyond the nation-state, including the European Union, and, on a more general level, diplomatic relations and foreign policy.By addressing these broad and increasingly important dimensions of think tank activity, the book will have considerable appeal among students of comparative politics, public policy and international affairs.