The Role of Think Tanks
A think piece for the ESPAS 2016 conference by Paweł Świeboda (@pswieboda), Deputy Head, European Political Strategy Centre, European Commission
Think tanks play a fundamental role in shaping policy agendas. They mobilise expertise and put forward evidence. They push for innovative change and they build networks and communities through which they nurture and spread ideas and catalyse action.
The current environment of fast-paced transformations and increasingly complex and intertwined challenges at local, national and global levels would seem to create a perfect backdrop for think tanks to engage in dynamically, offering creative, pragmatic and actionable policy solutions on tangible issues.
And yet, the current conjuncture is also a particularly testing time for think tanks as we enter a ‘post-truth’ society, in which facts and expertise are increasingly challenged as the basis for policy and decision-making, in favour of more media-inviting catchphrases. This shift not only generates uncertainty and ambiguity around policymaking; it also leads to disinterest, disdain and even rejection of knowledge and evidence.
So, how should think tanks respond to this changing reality?
First, they must commit to taking on the much-needed function of repeatedly, constructively and boldly putting forward evidence-based assessments, in spite of the current apparent contempt for facts feeding into more effective and efficient policies.
Second, they have a critical role to play in confronting the trap of ‘automatic thinking,’ groupthink and confirmation bias. A 2015 World Development Report on Mind, Society and Behavior (PDF) highlights the patterns in which policymakers prefer to avoid being exposed to opposing or differing views by selecting and filtering evidence in a way that confirms their views. The role of think tanks is to challenge these patterns by providing a platform to introduce new ideas, expanding the scope of the debate and of the participants.
Finally, on the way to 2030, in an increasingly networked society, think tanks must provide a space between governments, research and academia, and, increasingly, civil society and media, within which ideas can be tested, strategies can be debated, and action for the future can be designed.
