The argument is not crudely materialist, suggesting that money simply trumps all other forms of resources.
This does not, however, mean that a “richer” think tank is always more influential than a “poorer” one. Diane Stone ( 2005) observed that the best-known think tanks in the world generally cherish stable sources of funding that help them secure at least 20 researchers among their employees. Shortage, or “the debilitating effects of limited funding,” is frequently mentioned as the main obstacle to the development of a thriving think tank community in a given country (James, 1993 Struyk, 1999 ‘t Hart & Vromen, 2008). In this sense, think tanks differ from other civil society organizations described in this volume whose main domains of action might not require the same extent of economic resources. This requires costly and highly specialized personnel, many of whom have university degrees. Relying on existing and in-house research, they produce various types of reports and books which are then submitted as policy recommendations to decision makers. Think tanks’ main activities are concentrated on social analysis. A think tank cannot employ and retain competent staff, sustain networks with various crucial actors, or gain media visibility unless it can finance these endeavors. Although other resources, such as human (staff), symbolic (brand), and social (connections) are also very significant to the work of think tanks, in most cases, these are strongly linked to the economic resources that a given institution holds. Economic resources are think tanks’ most immediate and arguably most important resource type. This chapter focuses on how the image of independence rhymes with economic resources in think tanks. Hence, the image of independence is crucial for think tanks (Jezierska, 2018 Jezierska & Sörbom, 2021). Unlike lobby organizations, think tanks claim to base their analyses and policy recommendations on independent expertise without representing commercial interests. Their “assertion of a voice in the policy-making process is based on their claim to expertise rather than as a vox populi” (Weaver & McGann, 2000, p. Think tanks declare themselves detached from any vested interest, and they do not aspire to represent the broader society. They use their access to each of these spheres to reach their goal of influencing policymakers. Think tanks are “boundary organizations,” or intermediaries between different social spheres such as politics, the market, the media, academia (Medvetz, 2012), and civil society (Jezierska, 2018). Their aim is to influence policy in a given direction. Sometimes called policy advice institutions, they are elite organizations producing and delivering social analysis to policymakers and the wider public. Think tanks are a special type of civil society organization engaged in research and advocacy.
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