Think Tanks in America

Over the past half-century, 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.

About the author

Thomas Medvetz is assistant professor of sociology at the University of California, San Diego.

Summary

Over the past half-century, think tanks have become fixtures of American politics, supplying advice to presidents and policy makers, expert testimony on Capitol Hill. This book argues that the curious ambiguity of the think tank is not an accidential feature of its existence, but the very key to its impact.

Product details

• Authors: Thomas Medvetz, Medvetz Thomas
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 03.03.2014
• EAN: 9780226143668
• ISBN: 978-0-226-14366-8
• No. of pages: 344
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; USA, Sociology, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / Social Policy, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, HISTORY / United States / 20th Century, POLITICAL SCIENCE / American Government / National, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, United States of America, USA, History of the Americas, Central / national / federal government policies, Central government policies