The view from nowhere? How think tanks work to shape health policy

Shaw, Sara; Russell, Jill; Parsons, Wayne; Greenhalgh, Trisha

doi:10.1080/19460171.2014.964278

Cited by 37 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Think tanks have been a distinct part of the political and policy process since the 1960s in most industrialised countries 74 75. The growth of neoliberalism saw an increasing dependence on think tanks, as (ostensibly) external arbiters of good policy advice 76.…”

Section: Policy As Discourse and Actionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What is policy and where do we look for it when we want to research it?

Crammond

Carey

2016

J Epidemiol Community Health

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Public health researchers are increasingly concerned with achieving 'upstream' change to achieve reductions in the global burden of disease and health inequalities. Consequently, understanding policy and how to change it has become a central goal of public health. Yet conceptualisation of what constitutes policy and where it can be found is very limited within this field. Our glossary demonstrates that policy is many headed. It is located in a vast array of documents, discussions dialogues and actions which can be captured variously by formal and informal forms of documentation and observation. Effectively understanding policy and its relevance for public health requires an awareness of the full range of places and contexts in which policy work happens and policy documents are produced.

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Section: Policy As Discourse and Actionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What is policy and where do we look for it when we want to research it?

Crammond

Carey

2016

J Epidemiol Community Health

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“…Much has been written on the barriers to mobilising evidence (Oliver, Lorenc, & Invaer, ) and whether policy can be evidence‐based, given its emergent and incomplete nature, and political expediencies (Davies, ; House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, ; Montuschi, ; Newman et al., ). As well, there is a small but growing scrutiny of the quality of evidence produced by so‐called neutral research consultancies (Bock, ; Jacques, Dunlap, & Freeman, ; Michaels, ; Sharman & Holmes, ; Shaw, Russell, Parsons, & Greenhalgh, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mobilising evidence in public policy: The contribution of the evidence provider

Thornthwaite

O’Neill

2018

Aust J Public Adm

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This article contributes to the conceptualisation of evidence‐based policy through providing a framework of the key factors that influence research utilisation, including those that shape the quality of evidence provided. We apply this framework to an analysis of public policy to regulate the remuneration of freight truck drivers to improve workplace safety in their industry. Recent policymaking concerning the regulation of truck drivers’ remuneration in Australia provides an opportunity to examine the quality and utilisation of research evidence by external evidence providers in opposing political contexts. This article suggests the need for informed and vigilant scrutiny of the contributions of evidence providers to government policymaking, particularly in the case of wicked policy problems about which there are sustained ideological differences that underpin problematisation, research interpretation, and conceivable policy solutions.

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“…Indeed, perceptions of intellectual 'independence' continue to be important for actors who seek to inform policy -not least for think tanks themselves and for how they present themselves to the public, their funders and users of their products. For example, studies on think tanks' role in health policy firmly question the idea that think tanks are independent but argue that they successfully operate via a 'technocratic' way of presenting themselves (Shaw, Russell, & Greenhalgh, 2015;Smith, Thomson, & Lee, 2016).…”

Section: Analysing Think Tank Power and Influence: A Difficult Taskmentioning

confidence: 99%

Think tanks in ‘hard times’ – the Global Financial Crisis and economic advice

Hernando¹,

Pautz

Stone

2018

Policy and Society

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The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 and the Great Recession that ensued had reverberations that were not only social, political and economic. The crises also led to increased doubt in the value and usefulness of policy expertise and in its producers. This ‘epistemic crisis’ is the starting point of this thematic issue dedicated to think tanks in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis and Great Recession. The Introduction to the issue has four objectives. First, it gives a high-level overview of the challenges and opportunities think tanks have faced in the wake of these crises, given the paradox of growing demand for policy expertise precisely at the moment when such expertise and its makers became suspect for many. Second, the Introduction gives an overview of the research literature on think tanks and their role in the policy-making process and the public debate. Third, the articles comprising this thematic issue are introduced, and connections between them established. Fourth, the introduction gauges the effects of Global Financial Crisis and Great Recession, but also crises more generally, on think tanks and the environment they operate in, and speculates about the future of the think tank industry.

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The view from nowhere? How think tanks work to shape health policy

Cited by 37 publications

References 33 publications

What is policy and where do we look for it when we want to research it?

What is policy and where do we look for it when we want to research it?

Mobilising evidence in public policy: The contribution of the evidence provider

Think tanks in ‘hard times’ – the Global Financial Crisis and economic advice

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