Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program

Last updated
Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program
AbbreviationTTCSP
Formation1989
Dissolved2021
Headquarters University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Director (last)
 James G. McGann
Parent organization
 Lauder Institute, University of Pennsylvania
Website repository.upenn.edu/think_tanks/

The Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) was a non-profit program at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that operated from 1989 to 2021. TTCSP was originally established at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in 1989. [1] The director was James McGann. [2] [3] The program conducted research on policy institutes around the world, [4] and maintained a database of over 8,200 think tanks from across the world. [5]

Contents

Program history

The TTCSP was established at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in 1989. It began with its focus on think tanks in the US. In the 1990s, the program became increasingly global as a result of the political and economic transformation that took place in Central and Eastern Europe. [6] R. Kent Weaver [7] of the Brookings Institution and James McGann of the Foreign Policy Research Institute were asked to help conceptualize what became the Global Development Network, a World Bank sponsored conference in Barcelona, Spain. [8] This resulted in the publication Think Tanks and Civil Societies: Catalysts for Ideas and Action in 2000. [6] In 2008, the TTCSP moved to the International Relations Program at the University of Pennsylvania.

Global Go To Think Tank Index

McGann and the Program published the annual Global Go To Think Tank Index. [9] As of 2010, the Index is based on a three-phase survey whose participants include politicians, scientists, think tank donors, and think tanks. [10] However, this method of the study and assessment of policy institutes has been criticized by researchers such as Enrique Mendizabal and Goran Buldioski, Director of the Think Tank Fund, assisted by the Open Society Institute. [11] [12]

In 2018, this Index listed US the country with the largest number of Think Tanks (1871), followed by India (509), China (507), UK (321), Argentina (227), Germany (218), Russia (215), France (203), Japan (128), Italy (114), Brazil (103), Canada (100), South Africa (93). [13]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Foreign Policy Research Institute, "Think Tanks and Foreign Policy Program", 2001–2010, "Source 1 Archived 22 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine ", 6 July 2010
  2. ↑ "James G. McGann – Foreign Policy Research Institute". Foreign Policy Research Institute. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  3. ↑ Bennett, Amanda (5 October 2015). "Are think tanks obsolete?". The Washington Post. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  4. ↑ "The Think Tanks and Civil Society Program | About Us". Gotothinktank.com. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  5. ↑ International Relations @ UPenn, "2009 Global Rankings of Think Tanks", 2010, "Source 7 Archived 7 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine ", 6 July 2010
  6. 1 2 Foreign Policy Research Institute, "Selected List of Publications", 2001–2010, "Source 5 Archived 22 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine ", 6 July 2010
  7. ↑ Brookings Institution, "R. Kent Weaver", 2010, "Source 3 Archived 15 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine ", 6 July 2010
  8. ↑ Global Development Network, "Global Development Network (GDN): Background and History", 2010, "Source 4 Archived 21 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine ", 6 July 2010
  9. ↑ Wermund, enjamin (17 September 2014). "A&M think tank aims to solve state issues". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  10. ↑ Seiler, Christian, and Klaus Wohlrabe. "A critique of the 2009 global 'Go-to Think Tanks' ranking". CESifo DICE Report 8.2 (2010): 60.
  11. ↑ Mendizabal, Enrique (21 January 2011). "Another year, another ranking of think tanks (and surprise surprise, Brookings is still the best)". On Think Tanks. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  12. ↑ Buldioski, Goran (23 January 2011). "Mirror, mirror on the wall... tell me who is the best think tank in the world?". Goran's Musings. Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  13. ↑ McGann, James G. (29 January 2019). "2018 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report". ScholarlyCommons University of Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on 19 February 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2019.

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