McGill-Queen's University Press Do Think Tanks Matter? Third Edition: Assessing the Impact of Public Policy Institutes

It is often assumed that think tanks carry enormous weight with lawmakers and other key stakeholders. In Do Think Tanks Matter? Donald Abelson argues that the question of how think tanks have evolved and under what conditions they can and do have an impact continues to be ignored. Think tank directors often credit their institutes with influencing major policy debates and government legislation, and many journalists and scholars believe the explosion of think tanks since the latter part of the twentieth century is indicative of their growing importance in the policy-making process. Abelson goes beyond assumptions, highlighting both the visibility and relevance of public policy institutes in what has become a contentious and polarized political arena in the United States, and in Canada, where, despite recent growth in numbers, they enjoy less prominence than their US counterparts. By focusing on how think tanks engage in issue articulation, policy formation, and implementation, Abelson argues that they have helped to shape the political dialogue and the policy preferences and choices of decision-makers, but in different ways and at different stages of the policy cycle. This expanded and revised third edition includes additional institutional profiles of key think tanks, an updated chapter on presidents and think tanks, a new chapter on the efforts of a group of public policy institutes to shape the discourse around the possible construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, and dozens of new graphs and tables that track the public visibility and perceived policy relevance or impact of top-tier think tanks. Review "Most of the serious research on Canadian think tanks has been done by Donald Abelson … His groundbreaking book … has proven enormously influential." The Walrus "Well written, carefully documented and articulate case for the antithesis of the title … a valuable treasure trove of interesting … information." Canadian Public Policy "Many interesting observations about the nature of think tanks and the policymaking process more generally." Cato Journal "An important contribution to a body of literature that is increasingly recognised in the social sciences as an undeveloped field and worthy of more extensive investigation. Abelson's comparative insights will have wider significance in drawing attention "Well-written and lucid ... this is a seminal contribution to the field. Abelson has a sophisticated and up-to-date understanding of the literature and the phenomena that he studies." Evert Lindquist, School of Public Administration, University of Victori From the Author Donald E. Abelson is professor and chair of political science at the University of Western Ontario and the author of A Capitol Idea: Think Tanks and U.S. Foreign Policy and Northern Lights: Exploring Canada’s Think Tank Landscape. About the Author Donald E. Abelson, professor and chair, Department of Political Science, and director, Centre for American Studies, The University of Western Ontario, is the author of A Capitol Idea: Think Tanks and U.S. Foreign Policy.