Thursday, November 22, 2018

Think Tanks Undergoing Fundamental Evolution

This is from David Brooks:

Washington think tanks are undergoing a fundamental evolution. A lot of them, like the American Enterprise Institute and the Brookings Institution, were built to advise parties that no longer exist. They were built for a style of public debate — based on social science evidence and congressional hearings that are more than just show trials — that no longer exists. Many people at these places have discovered that they have more in common with one another than they do with the extremists on their own sides.
So suddenly there is a flurry of working together across ideological lines. Next week, for example, the group Opportunity America, with Brookings and A.E.I., will release a bipartisan agenda called “Work, Skills, Community: Restoring Opportunity for the Working Class.”

While Mr. Brooks is correct to point this out, it is also important to remember that think tanks are facing other enormous challenges, including more competition from consulting firms as well as the ever-increasing number of think tanks, and credibility issues due to funding sources.