Wonks trading policy for politics

Press often writes based on what it has been told by think tankers but rarely writes about them. Elite press even more so. So ‘Send for the wonks’, the article that appeared in the Economist on July 27,  is worth highlighting for all those who follow the developments in the world of think tanks. Especially those who trace the transfer of think tankers into politics (so called revolving door function of think tanks). Those who search for the elusive definition of impact in the work of these organizations would be even more delighted to read how ResPublica, the Institute for Economic Affairs, Reform and Policy Exchange, four British think tanks are making an impact on the current policies. Of course, ‘impact’ based on the transfer from ‘policy’ into ‘politics’.

Transfer of Eastern European ‘wonks’, albeit not reported by the Economist, follows similar trends in some countries. This year’s notable mentions come from Slovakia following the recent parliamentary elections: Eugen Jurzica, who stepped down as INEKO executive director last year, became the Minister of Education, Science, Research and Sport two months ago; Miroslav Bebaly traded his place at the Slovak Governance Institute for a seat in the Slovak Parliament. And there are not the only ones . In Slovakia, the think tanks have always been traditionally linked with the liberal and center-right ideologies and consequently in favor of those political parties. Therefore the transfer to and from Government in Slovakia is very common and does not undermine the credibility of the sector (OK, I am sure that Robert Fico will disagree with my interpretation ).

Regrettably, this cannot be said for the countries in the Western Balkans (Albania was in the limelight last year) . But this is a different story that deserves a special blog-post in future to follow some of my previous musings.