Think Tanks and Policy Advice in Countries in Transition

This paper was prepared for a Japan Fund for Public Policy Training symposium, "How to Strengthen Policy-Oriented Research and Training in Viet Nam", held in Hanoi on 31 August 2005.

Think tanks are often viewed as a critical link between elaboration of policies and their implementation. They represent a vital component of successes of policies directed towards harmonization of existing practices with contemporary paradigms of good governance and economic management. As such, development agencies regard think tanks as critical organizations for assisting government in economic transition.

This paper is structured into four parts: 

Part 1 provides an overview of think tank development over the last century around the world. Asian think tank evolution is assessed in this international context. 

Part 2 assesses the social and political environment for the provision of policy analysis and expertise, and the manner in which national institutional settings shape the character of a think tank industry as well as the prospects for policy influence. The discussion focuses primarily on think tanks in Southeast Asia, with some reference to Northeast Asian contexts. 

Part 3 assesses how the forces of globalization and regionalization have brought new pressures for national policy communities and promoted the transnationalization of think tank activity. Globalization has implications for the future effectiveness of Vietnamese think tanks.

Part 4 returns to questions as to how think tanks manage their organizations for policy relevance.  It addresses some questions regarding "best international practices" of think tank management and approaches to "bridging research and policy".

Download this Discussion Paper [ PDF 567.2KB| 30 pages ].

Post a Comment

We welcome your feedback on this publication. Post a comment. ADBI is not obliged to acknowledge or publish comments and may abridge or edit them before web posting.

Comment(s)

There are [0] comment(s) for this entry. Post a comment.