CEE Think tanks – Where can I read about them?

A person that has recently started to work with think tanks in Central and Eastern Europe asked me to recommend some readings so that s/he can grasp the field better. Recommending some key readings was a much harder hard task than I initially envisaged. There are several reasons for it. While the body of literature on think tanks globally, and in the US in particular, is relatively rich, there is very little written on the think tanks in CEE. Second, most of this existing texts / analysis is qualitative in nature with exception of some country case studies (see my next post on some quantitative analysis). Third, the attempted conceptual frameworks have always tilted towards Anglo-Saxon definition and interpretation of the think tanks. As we know by now, this has its own limits when applied to CEE think tanks. And finally, it seems that the interest to write about think tanks has waned in the last 4-5 years.

Having read a lot of articles and books written about think tanks in CEE, I realized that maybe it will be useful to share them  on this blog not only to those that ask for J. So below you will find a non-exhaustive list organized by the following categories:

General Readings on think tanks | CEE specific | Country specific | Quality Standards for think tanks | Specific niche / subject (such as management, accountability)

I hope you find it useful. And please suggest any other article, book, text that you recommend

General Readings on think tanks

The evergreen and overrated:

McGann James and Weaver Kenneth, eds. Think Tanks and Civil Societies: Catalysts for Ideas and Action. New Brunswick. Transaction Publishers. 2000

Mcgann, James G. with Johnson, Erik C. Comparative Think Tanks, Politics and Public Policy. London: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2005

Weaver, R. Ken. 1989. “The Changing World of Think Tanks.” Political Science and Politics 22, no.3.

Some conceptually more sound and more provocative look:

Stone, Diane, and Denham, Andrew, eds. Think Tank Traditions: Policy Research and the Politics of Ideas. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2004.

Stone, Diane.. “Recycling bins, garbage cans or think tanks? Three myths regarding policy analysis institutes.”

Public Administration 85, no. 2: 259-278. 2007

CEE Specific reading on think tanks

UNDP (United Nations Development Program). . Thinking the Unthinkable. Bratislava: UNDP Regional Bureau

for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States.2003. Indispensable reading! [Available on Google Books here]

Sandle, Mark. Think Tanks, Post Communism and Democracy in Russia and Central and Easter Europe. In Stone, Diane, and Denham, Andrew, eds. Think Tank Traditions: Policy Research and the Politics of Ideas. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2004.

Krastev Ivan. The Liberal Estate: Reflections on the Politics of Think Tanks in Central and Eastern Europe. In McGann James and Weaver Kenneth, eds. Think Tanks and Civil Societies: Catalysts for Ideas and Action. New Brunswick. Transaction Publishers. 2000

Kimball, J.D. From Dependency to Market: The uncertain future of Think Tanks in Central and Eastern Europe. In McGann James and Weaver Kenneth, eds. Think Tanks and Civil Societies: Catalysts for Ideas and Action. New Brunswick. Transaction Publishers. 2000

Schneider, Jiří. Think-tanks in Visegrad Countries:From policy research to advocacy. Center for Policy Studies, Central European University, Budapest. 2002. [Access the article here]

Avramov, Roumen.. Think Tanks in the World of Applied Economics: A Comparative Study in Eastern Europe. Paper

presented at the Dioscouri research conference “Eastern Enlargement-Western Enlargement” in Vienna. 2007

Country specific readings on think tanks

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Stryuk, Raymond, Miller C. Policy Research in Bosnia and Herzegovina: The Role and Impact of Think Tanks.

Southeastern European Politics, vol.5, no.1, 2004, pp.45-59.

Stryuk, Raymond, Kohagen K. and Miller. C. Were Bosnian Policy Research Organizations More Effective in 2006

than in 2003? Did Technical Assistance Make a Difference? Public Administration and Development

Hungary

Reich, Anna. Think Tanks in the Policy Process: The case of Hungary. Unpublished MA thesis at the Department of Public Policy of the Central European University. 2009 [Access here ] Interesting look at links between political frameworks and think tanks!

Serbia

Maja Gavrilovic. Bringing governance evidence into the policy process: opportunities and challenges in post-conflict Serbia.  Research and policy in development group. Overseas Development Institute. Report commissioned by UNDP Governance Centre (Oslo) [Access it here]

Slovakia

Medzihorský, Juraj. A new grey zone: Intellectuals, Think Tanks, and Politics in Post-communist Slovakia. Unpublished MA thesis at the Department of Public Policy of the Central European University. 2007 [Access the thesis here]

Quality

RAND Standards for High-Quality Research and Analysis. RAND Corporation.

[Access it here]

Court, Julius and Young, John. Bridging research and policy in international development: An Analytical and Practical Framework Development in Practice, Volume 16, Number 1, February 2006 [Available here]

ODI RAPID Framework. [Available here]

Court, Julius and Young, John. Bridging research and policy in international development: An Analytical and Practical Framework Development in Practice, Volume 16, Number 1, February 2006

Specific niche

Management

Stryuk, Raymond. Managing Think Tanks. LGI Books. Second Edition.  [Available here] A MUST READ for Think tank directors and insiders!

Accountability

Witty, Brendan, 2008. Accountability Principles for Research Organizations. London: One World Trust. [Available here]. Broadening horizons!

there are more, but I got tired .