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Think Tanks and Policy Advice in the US: Academics, Advisors and Advocates (Routledge Research in American Politics and Governance #Vol. 1)
by James G. McGannThis volume chronicles and analyzes the development of think tanks and public policy research organizations, while exploring the impact think tanks have on politics, public policies, and governance in the US. Think Tanks and Policy Advice in the US investigates the distinctive nature of thirty leading think tanks in America, while capturing the political and intellectual ecology of the more than 1,500 think tanks in the US. Presidents from twenty think tanks have contributed insightful essays that examine the role, value, and impact of these organizations on a national and global level. The book examines a range of key factors (partisan politics; growth of liberal and conservative advocacy groups; restrictive funding policies of donors; growth of specialized think tanks; narrow and short-term orientation of Congress and the White House; tyranny of myopic academic disciplines; and the 24/7 cable news networks) which have impacted on the ability of think tanks to provide independent analysis and advice. This text fills a gap in the available literature and will serve as a valuable reference tool for policy makers, the media, and researchers in the fields of public policy, political science, and American politics more generally.
Think Tanks in America
by Thomas MedvetzA revealing look at the rise of these influential institutions, and the effect they&’ve had on the United States. Think tanks have become fixtures of American politics, supplying advice to presidents and policy makers, expert testimony on Capitol Hill, and convenient facts and figures to journalists and media specialists. But what are think tanks? Who funds them? What kind of research do they produce? Where does their authority come from? And how influential have they become? In Think Tanks in America, Thomas Medvetz argues that the unsettling ambiguity of the think tank is less an accidental feature of its existence than the very key to its impact. By combining elements of more established sources of public knowledge—universities, government agencies, businesses, and the media—think tanks exert a tremendous amount of influence on the way citizens and lawmakers perceive the world, unbound by the more clearly defined roles of those other institutions. In the process, they transform the government of this country, the press, and the political role of intellectuals. Timely, succinct, and instructive, this provocative book will force us to rethink our understanding of the drivers of political debate in the United States.
Think Tanks in Australia: Policy Contributions and Influence (Interest Groups, Advocacy and Democracy Series)
by Trent HaglandThis book provides the most comprehensive study of the Australian think-tank industry to date. Drawing on empirical evidence, it first assesses the structure of the industry, the methods think tanks use to persuade policymakers, and public perceptions of their effectiveness. The book then proceeds to examine three unique policy cases to analyse think tank influence on policymaking. It argues that whilst think tanks play important roles in Australia’s policy process, their impacts vary depending on their approach and objectives. The book also demonstrates that policymakers with contrasting ideological orientations diverge in their assessments of the utility and influence of think tanks. It will appeal to students and scholars of public policy, and practitioners in public administration and governance.
Think Tanks in the US and EU: The Role of Policy Institutes in Washington and Brussels (Routledge Research in Comparative Politics)
by Christopher James RastrickWhy do US and EU think tanks diverge in their roles, priorities, and main constituencies? Providing the first substantive analytical comparison of think tanks in Washington and Brussels, this book explores the differences that exist and why they developed. Two principal variables are identified – institutional credibility and political culture – as a measure of comparison between the two think tank models. Supranational think tanks have an inherent credibility with the institutions of the EU, which allows them to direct their resources and efforts to activities and outputs where they hold a comparative advantage. US think tanks lack such institutional recognition and so need to prove their credibility to their main constituencies. The result is that an adversarial and individualistic political culture has informed the norms and activities of Washington think tanks while the consensus-driven and collectivist political culture of Europe has influenced supranational think tanks. Think tanks are far from newcomers to the public policy scene, but our broader understanding of their role, structure and how they assess their own achievements is not yet fully developed. By providing a framework within which to analyse this, this book will be of interest to academics, students and policy experts working within public policy, comparative politics and political science more generally.
Think Tanks, Foreign Policy and Geo-Politics: Pathways to Influence
by Donald Abelson Stephen Brooks Xin HuaQuestions about the role and influence of think tanks in matters of foreign policy and geopolitics are both timely and important. The reconfiguration of global power, explosion of social media, shifts away from traditional print and oral-based ways of imparting knowledge, and the dramatic increase in the volume of information and ideas clamoring for the attention of policy-makers are changing the landscape of foreign policy-making and the pathways through which influence is achieved. This book explains the impact of think tanks on the framing of domestic and international conversations on matters of foreign policy and geopolitics. An international group of prominent experts examine these issues in specific countries and also across national and regional borders to better understand how governments and actors in civil society are influenced by the activities of think tanks.
Think Tanks, Foreign Policy and the Emerging Powers
by James G. McGannThis book examines changing international dynamics through the lens of some of the leading think tanks from the emerging powers in the world. Through twelve case studies, the authors explore how security and international affairs think tanks in emerging powers collaborate with their policy makers to meet current and anticipate future foreign policy and security challenges. Overall, the book illustrates and analyzes how think tanks in a variety of political and economic contexts are able to contribute to their respective policy-making processes. Included in the discussions are the problems or successes that each respective nation’s think tanks face, where they feel the emerging nation will be positioned, and where they are failing to meet the policy challenges they face. The book provides a comprehensive look at successful foreign policy formulation to serve as examples for other think tanks in similar political and economic conditions.
Think a Second Time
by Dennis PragerWhat are the two great lies of the 20th century? Is there a solution to evil? What matters more, blood or love? Can a good man go to a striptease show? Do you think you have the answers? ...Think a second time. Dennis Prager, theologian and philosopher turned talk-show host, is one of the most brilliant and compelling voices in America today. His extraordinarily popular radio show with the signature sign-off, "Think a second time," coupled with his own biweekly newsletter, has firmly established him as a fixture in intellectual communities nationwide. In Think a Second Time, Prager blends a rigorous and scholarly education with utterly original thinking on current events. From the dangers of idealism to the roots of extremism to his thoughts on God and an afterlife, Prager offers challenging answers to up-to-the-minute questions: Should a single woman have a child? Why don't good homes always produce good children? Is America really racist? Why does the Holocaust not negate the existence of God? Now, with an entirely new section on the precedent-setting "Baby Richard" custody case and an exploration of the issue of blood versus love, Prager continues to demonstrate his ability to draw clear moral lines in the sands of our very troubled times.
Think in Public: A Public Books Reader (Public Books Series)
by Barbara Cassin Jill Lepore Judith Butler Kieran Setiya Fred Turner Jan Mieszkowski Jeremy Adelman Haruo Shirane Anne E. Fernald Matthew Engelke Imani Perry James Vernon Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak Kim Phillips-Fein Philip Gorski Frances Negrón-Muntaner Namwali Serpell Shannon Mattern Karen Dunak John Plotz Daegan Miller Christopher Schaberg Lilly Irani Joseph Jonghyun Jeon Suzy Hansen Max Holleran Mark McGurl Stacey Balkan Nathan Connolly Najwa Al-Qattan Destin Jenkins Andrew Perrin Lynn French Salamishah Tillet Matthew Clair Ursula K. Guin Eli Rosenblatt Rebecca Falkoff Karl Ashoka Britto Marah Gubar Tess McNulty Nicholas Dames John R. McNeillSince 2012, Public Books has championed a new kind of community for intellectual engagement, discussion, and action. An online magazine that unites the best of the university with the openness of the internet, Public Books is where new ideas are debuted, old facts revived, and dangerous illusions dismantled. Here, young scholars present fresh thinking to audiences outside the academy, accomplished authors weigh in on timely issues, and a wide range of readers encounter the most vital academic insights and explore what they mean for the world at large.Think in Public: A Public Books Reader presents a selection of inspiring essays that exemplify the magazine’s distinctive approach to public scholarship. Gathered here are Public Books contributions from today’s leading thinkers, including Jill Lepore, Imani Perry, Kim Phillips-Fein, Salamishah Tillet, Jeremy Adelman, N. D. B. Connolly, Namwali Serpell, and Ursula K. Le Guin. The result is a guide to the most exciting contemporary ideas about literature, politics, economics, history, race, capitalism, gender, technology, and climate change by writers and researchers pushing public debate about these topics in new directions. Think in Public is a lodestone for a rising generation of public scholars and a testament to the power of knowledge.
Think with Socrates: An Introduction to Critical Thinking
by Paul HerrickBrief yet comprehensive, Think with Socrates: An Introduction to Critical Thinking uses the methods, ideas, and life of Socrates as a model for critical thinking. It offers a more philosophical, historical, and accessible introduction than longer textbooks while still addressing all of the key topics in logic and argumentation. Applying critical thinking to the Internet, mass media, advertising, personal experience, expert authority, the evaluation of sources, writing argumentative essays, and forming a worldview, Think with Socrates resonates with today's students and teaches them how to apply critical thinking in the real world. At the same time, it covers the ancient intellectual roots and history of the field, placing critical thinking in its larger context to help students appreciate its perennial value. Author Paul Herrick incorporates original sources from newspapers, a variety of media, and philosophical writing, along with engaging "interludes" featuring selections from Plato's dialogues. A Companion Website at www.oup.com/us/herrick offers resources for students and instructors.
Think!
by Michael R. LegaultThis isn't the time to Blink. It's time to THINK! -- before it's too late. Outraged by the downward spiral of American intellect and culture, Michael R. LeGault offers the flip side of Malcolm Gladwell's bestselling phenomenon, Blink, which theorized that our best decision-making is done on impulse, without factual knowledge or critical analysis. If bestselling books are advising us to not think, LeGault argues, it comes as no surprise that sharp, incisive reasoning has become a lost art in the daily life of Americans. Somewhere along the line, the Age of Reason morphed into the Age of Emotion; this systemic erosion is costing time, money, jobs, and lives in the twenty-first century, leading to less fulfillment and growing dysfunction. LeGault provides a bold, controversial, and objective analysis of the causes and solutions for: the erosion of growth and market share at many established American companies, big and small, which appear to have less chance of achieving the dynamic expansion of the past permissive parenting and low standards that have caused an academic crisis among our children -- body weights rise while grades plummet America's growing political polarization, which is a result of our reluctance to think outside our comfort zone faulty planning and failure to act on information at all levels that has led to preventable disasters, such as the Hurricane Katrina meltdown a culture of image and instant gratification, fed by reality shows and computer games, that has rendered curiosity of the mind and spirit all but obsolete stress, aversion to taking risks, and therapy that are replacing the traditional American "can do" mind-set. Far from perpetuating the stereotype of the complacent American, LeGault's no-holds-barred analysis asks more of us than any other societal overview: America can fulfill its greatest potential starting today, and we need smart teachers, smart health care workers, smart sales representatives, smart students, smart mechanics, and smart leaders to make it happen. Now is the time to THINK! -- because a mind truly is a terrible thing to waste.
Think-tanks, Social Democracy And Social Policy
by Hartwig PautzAn analysis of think-tanks in Britain and Germany and their role in the re-making of the British Labour party and Germany's Social Democrats as 'Third Way' parties. The part that think-tanks played in the creation of the the 'workfare state' in the 1990s and 2000s is also explored in this book.
Thinking About America's Defense
by David R. Frelinger Glenn A. KentLieutenant General Glenn A. Kent was a uniquely acute analyst and developerof American defense policy in the second half of the twentieth century. His33-year career in the Air Force was followed by more than 20 years as one ofthe leading analysts at RAND. This volume is not a memoir in the normalsense but rather a summary of the dozens of national security issues inwhich Glenn was personally engaged over the course of his career. Theseissues included creating the single integrated operational plan (SIOP),leading DoD's official assessment of strategic defenses in the 1960s,developing and analyzing strategic nuclear arms control agreements, helpingto bring new weapon systems to life, and many others. Each vignettedescribes the analytical frameworks and, where appropriate, the mathematicalformulas and charts that Glenn developed and applied to gain insights intothe issue at hand. The author also relates his roles in much of thebureaucratic pulling and hauling that occurred as issues were addressedwithin the government.
Thinking About International Ethics: Moral Theory And Cases From American Foreign Policy
by Frances V HarbourThis book describes and analyzes important moral theories as they pertain to international politics and the study of international relations, examining the role that moral thinking actually played in specific cases in American foreign policy.
Thinking About National Security: Strategy, Policy, and Issues
by Donald M. SnowA Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2016 Perhaps the most basic national security question that U.S. leaders and the body politic continuously face is where and under what circumstances to consider and in some cases resort to the use of armed force to ensure the country’s safety and well-being. The question is perpetual—but the answer is not. This insightful text helps students make sense of the ever-changing environment and factors that influence disagreement over national security risks and policy in the United States. The book takes shape through a focus on three considerations: strategy, policy, and issues. Snow explains the range of plans of action that are possible and resources available for achieving national security goals, as well as the courses of action for achieving those goals in the context of a broad range of security problems that must be dealt with. However, there is little agreement among policymakers on exactly what is the nature of the threats that the country faces. Snow helps readers frame the debate by suggesting some of the prior influences on risk-assessment, some of the current influences on national security debates, and suggestions for how future strategy and policy may be shaped.
Thinking About Nuclear Weapons: Analyses and Prescriptions
by Fred Holroyd`It is really encouraging to see that such a book has been published ... No one can deny that Open University students - and all other interested parties - are given both sides of case.' - Tribune
Thinking About Political Corruption
by Peter DeLeonPeter deLeon argues that while it is often individuals who actually engage in political corruption, it is the US political system that condones or encourages such actions. Once this perspective is recognised, one can begin to understand ways in which the costs of corruption might be alleviated.
Thinking About Schools: New Theories and Innovative Practice
by Aimee Howley Craig HowleyAs its title implies, this book has a deceptively simple mission: to prepare would-be school leaders to draw upon a variety of theoretical perspectives when thinking about schools and schooling. It shows how theories can function as cognitive tools to be mastered, carefully stored in one's intellectual toolbox and used to interpret and resolve real world problems. Beneath this goal lies the belief that the most effective leaders are those who are able to construct their own well-grounded interpretations of events and their own responses to those events. Key features of this exciting new text include the following. Focus on Alternative Theories - The functionalist theoretical views that have dominated administrator preparation programs for the last half-century are reviewed early in the book and are shown to be inadequate to the task of understanding and coping with the complex realities of modern day schooling. The remainder of the book presents alternative views of schooling that, taken together, can be thought of as a theoretical repertoire from which to construct interpretations and solutions to everyday, real-world problems. Focus on Diversity - Diversity is examined from a variety of viewpoints. Chapter 6 looks at the cultural bases of leadership, Chapter 7 at comparative and international contexts, and Chapter 8 at gender and sexual orientation. Illustrative Cases - Each chapter contains a case with an embedded dilemma similar to those that real-world administrators confront. While illustrating the particular theoretical view presented in the chapter, these cases are sufficiently complex that they lend themselves to interpretation by any of the other theories considered in the book. This book is appropriate for graduate-level courses with titles such as Organizational Theory, Theory of School Leadership, or Introduction to Educational Administration. It might also be used as one of several texts in advanced courses on leadership theory.
Thinking About Social Policy: The German Tradition
by Franz-Xaver KaufmannThe book traces the political history of the concept of social policy. "Social policy" originated in Germany in the mid 19th century as a scholarly term that made a career in politics. The term became more prominent only after World War II. Kaufmann, the doyen of the sociology of social policy in Germany, argues that "social policy" responds to the modern disjunction between "state" and "society" diagnosed by the German philosopher Hegel. Hegel's disciple Lorenz von Stein saw social policy as a means to pacify the capitalist class conflict. After World War II, social policy expanded in an unprecedented way, changing its character in the process. Social policy turned from class politics into a policy for the whole population, with new concepts - like "social security", "redistribution" and "quality of life" - and new overarching formulas, "social market economy" and "social state" (the German version of "welfare state"). Both formulas have remained indeterminate and contested, indicating the inherent openness of the idea of the "social".
Thinking About The Curriculum: The nature and treatment of curriculum problems (Routledge Revivals)
by William A ReidFirst published in 1978, this book looks at the ‘curriculum crisis’ of the 1970s, examining the effect it has had for Curriculum Studies and curriculum policy making. It focuses on a time when long-established structures and procedures were challenged and schools were accused of having lost touch with the wants and needs of communities. The author argues that the curriculum should become part of community interest and be led by this, rather than by professionals and initiates. Indeed, he feels that the curriculum must have an identity which avoids alliances with technocrats, bureaucrats or ideologues, but yet has a positive philosophy and a commitment to good values.
Thinking About the Environment: Readings on Politics, Property and the Physical World
by Matthew Alan Cahn Rory O'BrienUnderlying current controversies about environmental regulation are shared concerns, divided interests and different ways of thinking about the earth and our proper relationship to it. This book brings together writings on nature and environment that illuminate thought and action in this realm.
Thinking About the Presidency: The Primacy of Power
by William G. HowellHow the search for power defines the American presidential officeAll American presidents, past and present, have cared deeply about power—acquiring, protecting, and expanding it. While individual presidents obviously have other concerns, such as shaping policy or building a legacy, the primacy of power considerations—exacerbated by expectations of the presidency and the inadequacy of explicit powers in the Constitution—sets presidents apart from other political actors. Thinking about the Presidency explores presidents' preoccupation with power. Distinguished presidential scholar William Howell looks at the key aspects of executive power—political and constitutional origins, philosophical underpinnings, manifestations in contemporary political life, implications for political reform, and looming influences over the standards to which we hold those individuals elected to America's highest office.Howell shows that an appetite for power may not inform the original motivations of those who seek to become president. Rather, this need is built into the office of the presidency itself—and quickly takes hold of whoever bears the title of Chief Executive. In order to understand the modern presidency, and the degrees to which a president succeeds or fails, the acquisition, protection, and expansion of power in a president's political life must be recognized—in policy tools and legislative strategies, the posture taken before the American public, and the disregard shown to those who would counsel modesty and deference within the White House.Thinking about the Presidency assesses how the search for and defense of presidential powers informs nearly every decision made by the leader of the nation. In a new preface, Howell reflects on presidential power during the presidency of Barack Obama.
Thinking Beyond Neoliberalism: Alternative Societies, Transition, and Resistance (Political Philosophy and Public Purpose)
by Neal Harris Onur AcaroğluThis book brings together leading academics and activists to address the possibilities for qualitative social change beyond neoliberalism, providing introductory essays on alternative societies, transition, and resistance. Bringing together discussions on universal basic income, actually existing communism, parecon, circular economies, workers co-operatives, ‘fully automated luxury communism,' trade unionism, and party politics, the volume provides one of the first scholarly interventions to systematically evaluate possibilities for transition and resistance across theoretical, political, and disciplinary traditions.
Thinking Beyond the Unthinkable: Harnessing Doom from the Cold War to the Age of Terror
by Jonathan StevensonA top strategic analyst explains what the Cold War can teach us about the War on Terror September 11 was a product of bad intelligence and wrongheaded expectations about al-Qaeda’s motivations, intentions, resourcefulness, and capabilities. But it also sprang from a failure of the kind of predictive strategic thinking that kept the world from becoming atomic rubble in the fifties and sixties. In Thinking Beyond the Unthinkable, strategic analyst Jonathan Stevenson illuminates both the genius of nuclear deterrence and Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), plus the blind spots that limited the great Cold War civilian strategists’ intellectual fertility and flexibility. Once the Soviet Union collapsed and the existential threat of nuclear holocaust abated, the American strategic community— from intelligence officers to policymakers to think tanks—lost the capacity to forecast and prepare for impending new threats to U. S. and global security. Complementing the cold-eyed revelations of Lawrence Wright’s The Looming Towerand Thomas Ricks’s Fiasco, Thinking Beyond the Unthinkableis a probing, urgent exhortation: if we are to extricate America from its current strategic predicament, we must regenerate for a new age the pragmatic creativity that once distinguished its strategic brain trust.
Thinking Clearly with Data: A Guide to Quantitative Reasoning and Analysis
by Ethan Bueno de Mesquita Anthony FowlerAn engaging introduction to data science that emphasizes critical thinking over statistical techniquesAn introduction to data science or statistics shouldn’t involve proving complex theorems or memorizing obscure terms and formulas, but that is exactly what most introductory quantitative textbooks emphasize. In contrast, Thinking Clearly with Data focuses, first and foremost, on critical thinking and conceptual understanding in order to teach students how to be better consumers and analysts of the kinds of quantitative information and arguments that they will encounter throughout their lives.Among much else, the book teaches how to assess whether an observed relationship in data reflects a genuine relationship in the world and, if so, whether it is causal; how to make the most informative comparisons for answering questions; what questions to ask others who are making arguments using quantitative evidence; which statistics are particularly informative or misleading; how quantitative evidence should and shouldn’t influence decision-making; and how to make better decisions by using moral values as well as data. Filled with real-world examples, the book shows how its thinking tools apply to problems in a wide variety of subjects, including elections, civil conflict, crime, terrorism, financial crises, health care, sports, music, and space travel.Above all else, Thinking Clearly with Data demonstrates why, despite the many benefits of our data-driven age, data can never be a substitute for thinking.An ideal textbook for introductory quantitative methods courses in data science, statistics, political science, economics, psychology, sociology, public policy, and other fieldsIntroduces the basic toolkit of data analysis—including sampling, hypothesis testing, Bayesian inference, regression, experiments, instrumental variables, differences in differences, and regression discontinuityUses real-world examples and data from a wide variety of subjectsIncludes practice questions and data exercises
Thinking Collectively: Social Policy, Collective Action and the Common Good
by Paul SpickerWhat does collectivism mean in social policy? What does thinking collectively imply for policy? In this book, well-respected author Paul Spicker lends a complementary voice to his Reclaiming individualism, reviewing collectivism as a dimension of political discourse. Breaking down his analysis to examine collectivism through substantive, moral and methodological lenses, he reviews a series of arguments for co-operative effort, solidarity and collective responsibility. Taking a dispassionate and methodical approach, the author explores what collectivism means in social policy and what value it offers to the field.