This article revisits the discussion about what a think-tank is, what it does and how it does what it does. The article argues that the definition of what constitutes a think-tank should focus on the functions that it fulfils and not so much on the organizational form, as is the case with dominant perspectives. The article offers a revised think-tank definition and, as a second step, discusses a Gramsci-inspired critical approach to understanding the function of think-tanks and, third, adopts Marten Hajer’s discourse coalition concept to explain how think-tanks became effective as state-external agents of change.

‘Germany is not a country of immigration’ is a fiction of national homogeneity that came under increased pressure with the advent, in 1998, of a centre-left government. New laws for immigration, integration and citizenship were to be introduced, eradicating the concept of Volk tied together by ius sanguinis. But the opposition Christian Democratic Union made an electoral issue of ‘Ausländerpolitik’, especially integration, accusing the government of jeopardising ‘German cultural identity’. What ensued was the Leitkulturdebatte, about Germany’s predominant culture, characterised by the notion of the ‘clash of civilisations’ and the incompatibility of ‘different’ cultures. This not only replaced racial belonging with cultural belonging, transforming the ius sanguinis into an equally essentialist ius cultus, it also formed part of a conservative attempt to re-establish a ‘normal’ German national consciousness, cleared of the memory of the Holocaust.

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This article describes and analyses the role that think tanks in the United Kingdom and Germany played in the modernisation of the British Labour party and the Social Democratic party of Germany between 1992 and 2008. In these years, both parties were de‐traditionalised. Especially, their central objective, that of achieving a socially just society, was redefined under the banner of the ‘Third Way’. Policy experts from outside the political parties played an important role in this process. The article discusses what a think tank is and whether in times of ‘paradigmatic’ crisis actors external to a political party can exert influence on the parties' policy objectives and thus supersede internal policy‐making institutions. It also analyses, in comparative perspective, the conditions in which think tanks in both countries can be most effective.

Think tanks are omnipresent in the British media as sources of expertise for journalists and politicians; they themselves claim that their ideas form the basis of new policies and that they have influenced the thinking of leading decision-makers. This article aims to shed light on whether think tanks have played a role in the modernisation of the Conservative party under David Cameron between 2005 and 2010. The institutions focused on here are Policy Exchange, Reform, Centre for Social Justice, ResPublica, Politeia and Civitas. If these think tanks influenced the Conservatives' modernisation, which important impulses did they give and how? The article also addresses the more general question of why think tanks are worth academic scrutiny.