Capturing the Political Imagination: Think Tanks and the Policy Process

Dr Stone argues that since think tanks are not involved in the details of policy implementation or the formal decision-making process, it is irrelevant to try and investigate their direct influence on policy. Instead it is necessary to look at how think tank scholars interact with decision-makers, and to examine the more subtle processes of agenda setting and policy entrepreneurship. While much has been written on the formal arenas of politics - executives, legislatures, elections and bureaucracies - this is the first book to uncover the vital but informal role played by think tanks in policy innovation and the diffusion of ideas among policy elites.