Thinking in a tank : a comparative study on the role and impact of policy institutes in selected Asian polities

Abstract

Think tanks are public policy research institutes that seek to play a role in making or influencing policy. While each think tank serves a specific purpose, they all share a common vision to improve their respective spectrum, as well as being a source of new ideas and research. However, think tanks in Asia are misunderstood, rarely acknowledged, and under-researched.

This study is a cross-polity and audience comparison, primarily using semi-structured interviews, grounded theory qualitative analysis and ethnography, to gain insight into the perceptive of think tanks, academics, media, policy makers, and chambers of commerce in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, to answer what role and impact local think tanks have on the policy making process, and to explore why.

Findings revealed six themes and 21 sub-themes. Three sub-themes emerged as having been discussed across all three polities by all five sources. The sub-themes in the order of highest reference count frequency first were: “[Think tanks have] Limited effectiveness in the policy making process” followed by “Research and dissemination [as a role]”, and “Limited media presence except for a few standout think tanks”.

Overall there were distinct differences between polities, which may, in most part, be due to varying political development in polities. There were also distinct differences between sources - possibly as the role one plays shapes their perception of issues. The source differences were generally consistent across polities, suggesting that source differences are independent of polity differences.