Think Tanks and Policy Advice in Countries in Transition

Think tanks are often viewed as a critical link between elaboration of policies and their implementation. Think tanks 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 – such as the Asian Development Bank Institute – regard think tanks as critical organizations for assisting government in economic transition.

This paper is structured into four parts:

• The first section provides an overview of think tank development  over the last century around the world. Asian think tank evolution is assessed in this international context.
• The second part 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.
• The third section 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.
• The fourth section returns to questions as to how think tanks manage their organizations for policy relevance. Some questions regarding "best international practices" of think tank management and approaches to ""ridging research and policy” are addressed.

In general, the institutional development of Vietnamese policy analysis has been state directed. This path of development is one that is increasingly out of step with international standards for genuine policy research and advice (see the studies by Boucher, 2004; Braun, 2004; Stone & Denham 2004). The prospect for the transfer of western style independent think tanks to Viet Nam is limited given that the civil society foundations are not present. Instead, think tanks are likely to remain in the orbit of the state albeit with increasing prompting from international donors for organisational reforms and policy engagement.

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