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A Capitol IdeaThink Tanks and U.S. Foreign Policy |
eBook Available
Are American think tanks major players in U.S. foreign policy?
A Capitol Idea reveals the extent to which think tanks in the United States have become active and vocal participants in the foreign policy-making process. In this timely exploration, Donald Abelson re-evaluates the role of these complex organizations and looks at how political influence is achieved on Capitol Hill and in the White House.
Abelson focuses on a host of high profile think tanks - including the Brookings Institution, the Heritage Foundation, and the Project for the New American Century - and on the public and private channels they rely on to influence important and controversial foreign policies, including the development and possible deployment of a National Missile Defense and George Bush's controversial war on terror. In the process of uncovering how some of the nation's most prominent think tanks have established themselves as key players in the political arena, he challenges traditional approaches to assessing policy influence and suggests alternative models.
Abelson focuses on a host of high profile think tanks - including the Brookings Institution, the Heritage Foundation, and the Project for the New American Century - and on the public and private channels they rely on to influence important and controversial foreign policies, including the development and possible deployment of a National Missile Defense and George Bush's controversial war on terror. In the process of uncovering how some of the nation's most prominent think tanks have established themselves as key players in the political arena, he challenges traditional approaches to assessing policy influence and suggests alternative models.
Details
392 Pages, 6 x 9
ISBN 9780773531154
August 2006
Formats: Cloth, eBook
Donald E. Abelson is professor and chair, political science, and director of the Centre for American Studies, The University of Western Ontario. He is the author of Do Think Tanks Matter? Assessing the Impact of Public Policy Institutes.
A Capitol Idea
Donald E. Abelson
Table of Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xvii
Acronyms xxi
Introduction 3
1 Lights, Camera, Action: Policy Experts and Presidential Campaigns 23
2 From Generation to Generation: The Origin and Evolution of American Think Tanks 43
3 Theorizing about Think Tanks: Competing Visions and Conceptual Approaches 97
4 Open for Business: Think Tanks and the Marketplace of Ideas 110
5 Something Is Missing: Think Tanks and the Study of Foreign Policy-Making 127
6 Finding Their Way: In Search of Policy Influence 147
7 Is Anybody Listening? Assessing the Influence of Think Tanks 163
8 Think Tanks at Work: The Debate over National Missile Defense 182
9 A Hard-Fought Battle: 9/11, the Bush Doctrine, and the War of Ideas 201
Conclusion: Think Tanks, Foreign Policy, and the Public Interest 225
APPENDICES
1 Profiles and Budgets of Selected American Think Tanks 235
2 Government Positions Held by Staff at Selected Think Tanks 239
3 Conferences, Workshops, Seminars, and Congressional Testimony on
Missile Defence and the War on Terror Provided by Selected Think Tanks 259
4 Print Media Coverage, Television Exposure, and Congressional Testimony, January 2001-January 2005 273
5 Selected Publications on Missile Defence and the War on Terror from American Think Tanks 282
Notes 303
Works Cited 337
Index 359
Donald E. Abelson
Table of Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xvii
Acronyms xxi
Introduction 3
1 Lights, Camera, Action: Policy Experts and Presidential Campaigns 23
2 From Generation to Generation: The Origin and Evolution of American Think Tanks 43
3 Theorizing about Think Tanks: Competing Visions and Conceptual Approaches 97
4 Open for Business: Think Tanks and the Marketplace of Ideas 110
5 Something Is Missing: Think Tanks and the Study of Foreign Policy-Making 127
6 Finding Their Way: In Search of Policy Influence 147
7 Is Anybody Listening? Assessing the Influence of Think Tanks 163
8 Think Tanks at Work: The Debate over National Missile Defense 182
9 A Hard-Fought Battle: 9/11, the Bush Doctrine, and the War of Ideas 201
Conclusion: Think Tanks, Foreign Policy, and the Public Interest 225
APPENDICES
1 Profiles and Budgets of Selected American Think Tanks 235
2 Government Positions Held by Staff at Selected Think Tanks 239
3 Conferences, Workshops, Seminars, and Congressional Testimony on
Missile Defence and the War on Terror Provided by Selected Think Tanks 259
4 Print Media Coverage, Television Exposure, and Congressional Testimony, January 2001-January 2005 273
5 Selected Publications on Missile Defence and the War on Terror from American Think Tanks 282
Notes 303
Works Cited 337
Index 359
