Think Tanks: What they are, what they do, and how they do it

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Think Tanks What they are, what they do, and
how they do it

• POLS2103
• Australian Democracy
• Comparative Theoretical Approaches
• Dr Norman Abjorensen

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A think tank (also called a policy institute) is
an organization, institute, corporation, or group
that conducts research and engages in advocacy in
areas such as social policy, political strategy,
economy, science or technology issues, industrial
or business policies, or military advice.
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Think tank" is a term that has found use only
since the 1950s, there is still some debate over
what constitutes the first think tank. One
candidate is the Royal United Services Institute
for Defence and Security Studies, founded in
1831. Another is the Fabian Society of Britain,
founded in 1884 to promote gradual social change.
The Brookings Institution, founded in the US in
1916, is another candidate for the first think
tank.
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In 1970, Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell
wrote to the National Chamber of Commerce saying
that all of the best students were becoming
anti-business because of the Vietnam War, and
that something needed to be done about it.
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Confidential MemorandumAttack of American Free
Enterprise System DATE August 23, 1971TO Mr.
Eugene B. Sydnor, Jr., Chairman, Education
Committee, U.S. Chamber of CommerceFROM Lewis
F. Powell, Jr.
No thoughtful person can question that the
American economic system is under broad attack.
This varies in scope, intensity, in the
techniques employed, and in the level of
visibility.
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We are under attack.
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One of the bewildering paradoxes of our time is
the extent to which the enterprise system
tolerates, if not participates in, its own
destruction. The campuses from which much of
the criticism emanates are supported by (i) tax
funds generated largely from American business,
and (ii) contributions from capital funds
controlled or generated by American business. The
boards of trustees of our universities
overwhelmingly are composed of men and women who
are leaders in the system. Most of the media,
including the national TV systems, are owned and
theoretically controlled by corporations which
depend upon profits, and the enterprise system to
survive.
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Powell's agenda included getting wealthy
conservatives to set up professorships, setting
up institutes on and off campus where
intellectuals would write books from a
conservative business perspective, and setting up
think tanks. He outlined the whole thing in
1970. They set up the Heritage Foundation in
1973, and the Manhattan Institute after that.
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• Think tanks are funded primarily by large
  businesses and major foundations.
• They devise and promote policies that shape the
  lives of everyday Americans Social Security
  privatization, tax and investment laws,
  regulation of everything from oil to the
  Internet.
• They supply experts to testify on Capitol Hill,
  write articles for the op-ed pages of newspapers,
  and appear as TV commentators.
• They advise presidential aspirants and lead
  orientation seminars to train incoming members of
  Congress.
• And they design foreign policy and even nominate
  wars to fight and advise on how to fight them.

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Think tanks have a decided political leaning.
There are twice as many conservative think tanks
as left-wing ones, and the conservative ones
generally have more money. This is no accident,
as one of the important functions of think tanks
is to provide a backdoor way for wealthy business
interests to promote their ideas or to support
economic and sociological research not taking
place elsewhere that they feel may turn out in
their favor. Conservative think tanks also offer
donors an opportunity to support conservative
policies outside academia, which during the 1960s
and 1970s was accused of having a strong
"collectivist" bias.
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PRO one of the main policy actors in
democratic societies ... assuring a pluralistic,
open and accountable process of policy analysis,
research, decision-making and evaluation. -US
National Institute for Research Development
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ANTI little more than public relations fronts
... generating self-serving scholarship that
serves the advocacy goals of their industry
sponsors. - Sourcewatch
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Ralph Nader Because of the private nature of
the funding of think tanks, their results are
biased Other critics Members will be
inclined to promote or publish only those results
that ensure the continued flow of funds from
private donors. This risk of distortion similarly
threatens the reputation and integrity of
organizations such as universities, once
considered to stand wholly within the public
sector.
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• Other criticism
• Think tanks are little more than propaganda tools
  for promoting the ideological arguments of
  whatever group established them.
• They are not always transparent.
• Organizations calling themselves think tanks
  having host lunches for politicians to present
  research that critics claim is merely in the
  political interest of major global interests such
  as Microsoft, but that the connections to these
  interests are never disclosed.
• Bodies such as the RAND Corporation issue
  research reports on, for example, national
  missile defence that accelerate investment into
  the very military products being produced by the
  military manufacturers who control RAND.

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The Military-Industrial Complex
This conjunction of an immense military
establishment and a large arms industry is new in
the American experience. The total influence --
economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in
every city, every State house, every office of
the Federal government. We recognize the
imperative need for this development. Yet we must
not fail to comprehend its grave implications.
Our toil, resources and livelihood are all
involved so is the very structure of our
society. In the councils of government, we must
guard against the acquisition of unwarranted
influence, whether sought or unsought, by the
military-industrial complex. The potential for
the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and
will persist. -President Dwight D. Eisenhower,
18 January, 1961
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In some cases, corporate interests have found it
useful to create "think tanks" that are thinly
disguised vehicles for corporate propaganda.
For example, in the US, The Advancement of
Sound Science Coalition was formed in the mid
1990s to dispute research finding a link between
second-hand smoke and cancer. It was established
by the tobacco industry.
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Democratic role contested 1. They are indicative
of a vibrant, open and pluralistic civil society
in which ideas compete in an intellectual
marketplace. 2. They are powerful vested
interests disguised as impartial scholars who
manipulate both government and public opinion
alike for their own purposes.
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Variety of ideological perspectives. Some think
tanks, such as the US Heritage Foundation are
clearly aligned with conservative causes, and the
American Enterprtise Institute is a pro-business
lobby. More recently the neo-conservative
Project for a New American Century has had a
significant impact on US foreign policy. In
Australia the Sydney Institute run by Gerard
Henderson is the best-known conservative example,
while the pro-capitalist Institute for Public
Affairs and neo-liberal Centre for Independent
Studies are also prominent on the Right.
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Think tanks play much more limited role in
Australian public and business policy making than
in theUnited States. However, in the past two
decades the number of think tanks has increased
substantially.
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• Many Australian think tanks are based at
  universities
• - for example, the Melbourne Institute
• - or are government funded - for example, the
  Productivity Commission or the CSIRO.
• There are also about 20-30 "independent"
  Australian think tanks, which are funded by
  private sources. The best-known of these are
• The Australia Institute
• The Centre for Independent Studies
• The Committee for Economic Development of
  Australia
• The Institute of Public Affairs
• The Lowy Institute
• The National Civic Council (NCC)
• Per Capita
• The Sydney Institute

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The IPA is an independent, non-profit public
policy think tank, dedicated to preserving and
strengthening the foundations of economic and
political freedom. We believe in the free market
of ideas, the free flow of capital, a limited and
efficient government, the rule of law, and
representative democracy. These are the ideas
which, throughout history, have proven themselves
to be most dynamic, liberating and exciting. Our
researchers apply these ideas to the public
policy questions which matter today. By the close
study of Australian policy, we can recommend the
best path for our politicians, policy makers and
businesses to take.
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The Centre for Independent Studies is the
leading independent public policy 'think tank'
within Australasia. The CIS is actively engaged
in support of a free enterprise economy and a
free society under limited government where
individuals can prosper and fully develop their
talents. By critical recommendations to public
policy and encouraging debate amongst leading
academics, politicians and journalists, the CIS
aims to build a better society.
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• Founded 1943 in response to big Labor win
• Concerned over Labors socialism and long-term
  plans
• Worried about tarnished image of business
• Need to educate the public about private
  enterprise
• Sets out basis for new political party the
  Liberal Party

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The post-war settlement 1945-1970
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Lessons from World War II Propaganda is
powerful
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• Grassroots
• reach as many people as possible in order to
  bring about a change in public opinion
• Treetops
• Directed at influencing elites those who shape
  opinion
• Politicians
• Newspaper editors
• Commentators

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• Treetops Object of the exercise
• Set the terms of the debate
• Determine the kinds of questions that will
  dominate public discussion
• Set the political agenda
• (Preferably in ways favourable to corporate
  interests)

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• Effects on public opinion
• Affluent societies no longer have a first
  responsibility to provide jobs for all who want
  them (Keynes)
• Instead, debate shifts to whether 6 or 10 per
  cent unemployment is natural (and therefore
  acceptable)
• Environmental degradation how much is
  economically acceptable?
• Not what can governments do and how they might do
  it, but how can government involvement be reduced
  and whats the timetable?
• No debate about social role of trade unions
  rather about ways of reducing union influence.
• But, NO DEBATE about curtailment of manipulative
  power of contemporary corporations

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Public BAD Private GOOD
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The free market ideas promoted by the think
tanks have become hegemonic not only amongst
conservative parties, but even within
traditionally social democratic groupings. (UK
Labour, Australian Labor Party) They have
become publicly accepted as self-evident truths
against which there is no alternative. - S.
Beder, Global Spin, Scribe Publications, 1997.
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TINA T here I s N o A lternative
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• The IPA and the attack on the welfare state
• Subsidization of irresponsible and immoral
  behaviour
• Undermining of traditional family
• Disincentives to work
• Growing welfare dependency of working age people
• Crowding out of private (for profit) welfare
  provision
• Deliberate exaggeration of poverty rates
• Unsustainable growth in welfare expenditure
• - IPA Review, 1979-2002

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• Reaching out Education or propaganda?
• CIS Economics Resource Centre (1989) regular
  publication and sponsored seminars for economics
  teachers and students.
• In 1993, 600 teachers attended and 800 schools
  and libraries subscribed to The Economics
  Education Review
• Helped legitimate the neo-liberal framework of
  economic analysis within teaching of high-school
  economics.
• Promotes idea of TINA

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• Under cover?
• 1986-1995 Age, SMH, AFR
• 14 of articles mentioning neo-liberal think
  tanks identified them as right-wing or
  conservative
• 63 contained quotes from think tank
  publications or members
• - Damien Cahill, Overland, 2002
• Ideological nature concealed
• Output presented as authoritative, disinterested
  and objective

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Prominent media commentator Dr Gerard
Henderson Executive Director, The Sydney
Institute
?
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• Where does the money come from?
• Neo-liberalism (economic rationalism) never a
  popular movement
• Without heavy corporate support unlikely to have
  emerged as potent force
• Nor could its promoters have sustained their
  activities
• For example CIS in 1996 derived 772,077 of its
  corporate budget from corporate donations
• Only 113,085 (14) derived from book sales and
  subscriptions
• Had the CIS relied upon market forces to fund its
  activities it would not have been viable

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Policy advocacy think tanks CIS 1976 1.7m Publ
ic policy/free enter IPA 1943 800,000 Free
Market policies Sydney Inst 1989 900,000 Public
policy Aust Inst 1994 450,000 Social policy,
environment