The International Survey of Think Tanks

The Global Trends and Transitions 2007 Survey of Think Tanks is an in-depth survey of all known public policy research organizations, or “think tanks,” worldwide. The research was conducted by James G. McGann, Ph.D., a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and president of McGann Associates, a nonprofit consulting firm based in Philadelphia. This is the culmination of two years of data collection and research. Surveys were emailed and mailed to 5,035 think tanks in 169 countries, and of these, 1028 institutions responded from 134 countries. Report highlights include the following:

• Decline in growth of think tanks worldwide but especially in Africa and Eastern Europe.
• Increased specialization of research topics and agendas
• Dramatic decline in research on environmental issues and rise in research focused on international development and cooperation.
• Major shift away from advocacy oriented activities
• Move away from producing books in US and Canada and a global increase in the production of policy briefs.
• The vast majority of think thanks in the world operate with relatively small staffs and budgets.
• An elite class of mega think tanks that operate on the national, regional and global level tend to have large staffs and budgets.
• Media and Internet have become a major market for think tank products.
• Think thanks are facing increased competition from For-Profit Consulting Firms, 24/7 Cable News Networks, Government Organized NonGovernmental Organizations (GONGOS)and Lobbying and Advocacy Groups.

We believe that independent think tanks will continue to play a critical role in the policy making process. Clearly, there is no shortage of policy challenges at the national, regional and global level. The world we live in can be characterized by what someone described as “The Four Mores”: more issues, more actors, more competition and more conflict. Over the last 10–15 years, governments and civil society groups have come to rely on thinks tanks for ideas, evidence and advice and I am confident that this trend will continue well into the future.

We have also developed globaldirectories of security and international affairs think tanks, Environmental thinktanks and Development think tanks. For comments or questions, contact James McGann, jm@fpri.org.