The competition of ideas
Subtitle: the world of Washington think tanks
By: Murray Weidenbaum.
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
Published: 2008
Place of publication: New Brunswick
Language: eng
Number of pages: 118
ISBN-13: 9781412808330
Subjects: Government consultants -- Washington Metropolitan Area; Research institutes -- Washington Metropolitan Area; Policy scientists -- Washington (D.C.); United States -- Politics and government -- 21st century
Description: "Murray Weidenbaum has been a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a speaker at meetings at the Brookings Institution, the Cato Institute, and the Heritage Foundation and has also written for their publications, and served as a reviewer of ongoing studies. In The Competition of Ideas, Weidenbaum examines the political economy of these vital institutions, drawing heavily on several decades of involvement in their activities. He is uniquely able to see their accomplishments as well as their shortcomings." "This book presents a careful, balanced account of where think tanks have been and where thay are now headed. Given the high levels of professionalism in many think tanks, a fundamental change in the attitude of their management is important. The compelling need is less for the wielder of policy than for the lucid synthesizer of relevant research and analysis. Likewise, society needs sensitivity to the long-term concerns of the citizenry more urgently than rapid response to the opportunities of the moment. Future competition, particularly among the major think tanks, could well be centered, not on achieving greater visibility, but on developing responses to economic, environmental, and national security problems that are likely to be adopted and carried out."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction : the challenge facing think tanks; title: Basic data on Washington think tanks; title: The five major think tanks (the "DC-5"); title: Making some comparisons; title: How think tanks operate; title: Think tanks and business; title: Measuring the influence of think tanks; title: Findings, conclusions, and recommendations.