think tanks
Research advisory groups
Think tanks are organizations that conduct research and advocacy on policy issues—economic, political, social, or military.
They employ experts who produce reports, white papers, and recommendations intended to influence government decisions and public debate.
Think tanks range from nonpartisan research institutions to those with explicit ideological agendas: The Heritage Foundation is a conservative think tank.
The term evokes rooms where people sit around thinking, though the work is more concrete than that suggests.
- wonksStudious subject experts
- policy wonksDetail-focused political experts
- beltwayHighway encircling a city
- researchSystematic fact-finding effort
- advocacyPleading for a cause
deep state · policy · fellows · analysis · policy-making · intelligence · talking heads · public policy · white papers · position papers · expertise · ivory tower · institute · Brookings · revolving door · power brokers · governance · lobbying
- advisorspolicy advisors, consultant, adviser, advisor, counsel
- collaborationteamwork, partnership, co-creation, alliance, sharing
- public policypolicy making, policy reform, economic policy, policy recommendations, education policy
- Indian InstitutionsNIT, medical colleges, law schools, business schools, art schools
- Intellectual OrganizationsMensa, Phi Beta Kappa, Royal Society, Prometheus, Rhodes Scholars
- knowledge industrieseducation, consulting, academic research, research, information technology
think tanksboots on the ground
Military presence in area
field workers · practitioners · doers · implementers · operators
think tanksgrassroots movements
Citizen-led collective action
community organizations · town halls · labor unions · neighborhood associations · folk wisdom