Editing Think tank (section)

=== North American think tanks ===
==== Canada ====
Canada has many notable think tanks (listed in alphabetical order). Each has specific areas of interest with some overlaps.

{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada]]
* [[Atlantic Institute for Market Studies]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 August 2010 |title=AIMS – Atlantic Institute for Market Studies |url=http://www.aims.ca/en/home/default.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100807032053/http://www.aims.ca/en/home/default.aspx |archive-date=7 August 2010 |access-date=19 February 2018 }}</ref>
* [[Broadbent Institute]]
* [[C. D. Howe Institute|C.D. Howe Institute]]
* [[Caledon Institute of Social Policy]]
* [[Canada West Foundation]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Canada West Foundation &#124; |url=http://cwf.ca/ |access-date=29 July 2016 |website=Cwf.ca |archive-date=21 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111021234545/http://cwf.ca/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives]]
* [[Canadian Global Affairs Institute]]
* [[Canadian Institute for Advanced Research]]
* [[Canadian International Council]]
* [[Canadian Policy Research Networks]] (disbanded)
* [[Canadian Tax Foundation]]
* [[Cardus]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cardus |url=http://www.cardus.ca/ |access-date=29 July 2016 |website=Cardus.ca |archive-date=10 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810165314/https://www.cardus.ca/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Centre for International Governance Innovation]]
* [[Conference Board of Canada]]
* [[Council of Canadians]]
* [[Fraser Institute]]
* [[Frontier Centre for Public Policy]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Frontier Centre For Public Policy |url=https://fcpp.org/ |website=Frontier Centre For Public Policy |access-date=11 May 2022 |archive-date=12 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512085811/https://fcpp.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Institute for Research on Public Policy]]
* [[Institute on Governance]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Institute on Governance – Leading Expertise |url=http://www.iog.ca/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911061152/http://iog.ca/ |archive-date=11 September 2014 |access-date=18 August 2014 |website=Institute on Governance}}</ref>
* [[International Institute for Sustainable Development]]
* [[International Policy Forum]]
* [[Macdonald–Laurier Institute]]
* [[Montreal Economic Institute]]
* [[Mowat Centre for Policy Innovation]]
* [[National Citizens Coalition]]
* [[North-South Institute]]
* [[Parkland Institute]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Parkland Institute :: Research and Education for the Common Good :: Edmonton, Alberta |url=http://parklandinstitute.ca/ |access-date=29 July 2016 |website=Parklandinstitute.ca |archive-date=28 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160728041903/http://www.parklandinstitute.ca/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Pembina Institute]]
* [[Public Policy Forum]]{{div col end}}

==== Mexico ====
* [[CIDAC]] – The Center of Research for Development (Centro de Investigación para el Desarrollo, Asociación Civil) is a not-for-profit think tank that undertakes research and proposes viable policy options for Mexico's economic and democratic development. The organization seeks to promote open, pluralistic debate pursuing: the Rule of Law & Democracy, market economics, social development, and strengthening Mexico-United States relations.
* [[Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas|CIDE]] – The Center of Research and Economics Teaching (Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas) is a think tank institute focussing on "public policies", "public choice", "democracy", and "economy".
* COMEXI – The Mexican Council of International Affairs (Consejo Mexicano de Asuntos Internacionales).

==== United States ====
{{See also|List of think tanks in the United States}}
As the classification is most often used today, the oldest American think tank is the [[Carnegie Endowment for International Peace]], founded in 1910.<ref name="Thomas Medvetz 2012">Thomas Medvetz, "'Think Tanks in America" (2012) Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press</ref> The Institute for Government Research, which later merged with two organizations to form the [[Brookings Institution]], was formed in 1916. Other early twentieth century organizations now classified as think tanks include the [[Hoover Institution]] (1919), [[Twentieth Century Fund|The Twentieth Century Fund]] (1919, and now known as the Century Foundation), the [[National Bureau of Economic Research]] (1920), the [[Council on Foreign Relations]] (1921), and the [[Social Science Research Council]] (1923). The Great Depression and its aftermath spawned several economic policy organizations, such as the National Planning Association (1934), the [[Tax Foundation]] (1937),<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Us |url=https://taxfoundation.org/about-us |access-date=14 April 2015 |publisher=Tax Foundation |archive-date=14 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414200118/http://taxfoundation.org/about-us |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[Committee for Economic Development]] (1943).<ref name="Thomas Medvetz 2012" />

In collaboration with the Douglas Aircraft Company, the Air Force set up the [[RAND Corporation]] in 1946 to develop weapons technology and strategic defense analysis.

The [[Hudson Institute]] is a conservative American think tank founded in 1961 by futurist, military strategist, and systems theorist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporation. Recent members include Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of state under Donald Trump who joined in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Scoop: Pompeo to stay in DC and join Hudson Institute – Axios |date=27 January 2021 |url=https://www.axios.com/pompeo-hudson-institute-28ad3b8f-1c52-40f8-b5ce-e734cb38e842.html |access-date=8 November 2021 |archive-date=8 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108231820/https://www.axios.com/pompeo-hudson-institute-28ad3b8f-1c52-40f8-b5ce-e734cb38e842.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

More recently, progressive and liberal think tanks have been established, most notably the [[Center for American Progress]] and the Center for Research on Educational Access and Leadership (CREAL). The organization has close ties to former United States President [[Barack Obama]] and other prominent Democrats.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wallstein |first=Peter |date=19 January 2012 |title=Center for American Progress, group tied to Obama, under fire from Israel advocates |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/center-for-america-progress-group-tied-to-obama-accused-of-anti-semitic-language/2012/01/17/gIQAcrHXAQ_story.html |access-date=26 February 2014 |archive-date=21 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221112614/http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/center-for-america-progress-group-tied-to-obama-accused-of-anti-semitic-language/2012/01/17/gIQAcrHXAQ_story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Think tanks have been important allies for United States presidents since the [[Reagan administration]], writing and suggesting policies to implement, and providing staff for the administration. For recent conservative presidents, think tanks such as [[The Heritage Foundation]], the [[Hoover Institution]], and the [[American Enterprise Institute]] (AEI) were closely associated with the [[Presidency of Ronald Reagan|Reagan administration]]. The [[Presidency of George H. W. Bush|George H. W. Bush administration]] worked closely with AEI, and the [[Presidency of George W. Bush|George W. Bush administration]] worked closely with AEI and the Hoover Institution. The [[Second presidency of Donald Trump|Trump administration]] works closely with the Heritage Foundation. For recent liberal presidents, the [[Progressive Policy Institute]] and its parent the [[Democratic Leadership Council]] were closely associated with the [[Presidency of Bill Clinton|Clinton administration]], and the [[Center for American Progress]] was closely associated with the [[Presidency of Barack Obama|Obama]] and [[Presidency of Joe Biden|Biden administrations]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Troy |first=Tevi |date=2017-12-19 |title=Heritage's New President Faces a Challenge |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/12/presidents-and-think-tanks/548765/ |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref>

Think tanks help shape both foreign and domestic policy. They receive funding from private donors, and members of private organizations. By 2013, the largest 21 think tanks in the US spent more than [[US$]]1{{nbs}}billion per year.<ref name="Funding">{{Cite journal |last=Cohen |first=Rick |date=12 December 2014 |title=The Inner Workings of Think Tanks: Transparify Gives Us a Good Look |url=https://nonprofitquarterly.org/policysocial-context/25317-the-inner-workings-of-think-tanks-transparify-gives-us-a-good-look.html |journal=Nonprofit Quarterly |access-date=21 December 2014 |archive-date=16 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216074737/https://nonprofitquarterly.org/policysocial-context/25317-the-inner-workings-of-think-tanks-transparify-gives-us-a-good-look.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Think tanks may feel more free to propose and debate controversial ideas than people within government. The progressive media watchdog Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) has identified the top 25 think tanks by media citations, noting that from 2006 to 2007 the number of citations declined 17%.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 March 2008 |title=The Incredible Shrinking Think Tank |url=https://fair.org/extra/the-incredible-shrinking-think-tank/ |access-date=30 December 2020 |website=FAIR |language=en-US |archive-date=18 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418031708/https://fair.org/extra/the-incredible-shrinking-think-tank/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The FAIR report reveals the ideological breakdown of the citations: 37% conservative, 47% centrist, and 16% liberal. Their data show that the most-cited think tank was the [[Brookings Institution]], followed by the [[Council on Foreign Relations]], the [[American Enterprise Institute]], [[The Heritage Foundation]], and the [[Center for Strategic and International Studies]].

{{Update|date=May 2023}}

In 2016, in response to scrutiny about think tanks appearing to have a "conflict of interest" or lack transparency, executive vice president, Martin S. Indyk of Brookings Institution – the "most prestigious think tank in the world"<ref name="NYT_2016_Lipton">{{Cite news |last1=Lipton |first1=Eric |last2=Williams |first2=Brooke |date=7 August 2016 |title=Researchers or Corporate Allies? Think Tanks Blur the Line |work=[[New York Times]] |url=http://nyti.ms/2bbXNNk |access-date=9 August 2016}}</ref> admitted that they had "decided to prohibit corporations or corporate-backed foundations from making anonymous contributions." In August 2016, ''[[The New York Times]]'' published a series on think tanks that blur the line. One of the cases the journalists cited was Brookings, where scholars paid by a seemingly independent think tank "push donors' agendas amplifying a culture of corporate influence in Washington." For example, in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars the Brookings Institution provided [[Lennar]] – one of the United States' largest home builders – with a significant advantage in pursuing a US$8{{nbs}}billion revitalization project in Hunters Point, San Francisco. In 2014, Lennar's then-regional vice president in charge of the San Francisco revitalization, Kofi Bonner was named as a Brookings senior fellow – a position as 'trusted adviser' that carries some distinction. Bruce Katz, a Brookings vice president, also offered to help Lennar "engage with national media to develop stories that highlight Lennar's innovative approach."<ref name="NYT_2016_Lipton" />

===== U.S. government think tanks =====
Government think tanks are also important in the United States, particularly in the security and defense field. These include the Center for Technology and National Security Policy at the [[National Defense University (Washington, D.C.)|National Defense University]], the Center for Naval Warfare Studies at the [[Naval War College]], and the [[Strategic Studies Institute]] at the [[U.S. Army War College]].

The government funds, wholly or in part, activities at approximately 30 [[Federally Funded Research and Development Centers]] (FFRDCs). FFRDCs, are unique independent nonprofit entities sponsored and funded by the United States government to meet specific long-term technical needs that cannot be met by any other single organization. FFRDCs typically assist government agencies with scientific research and analysis, systems development, and systems acquisition. They bring together the expertise and outlook of government, industry, and academia to solve complex technical problems. These FFRDCs include the [[RAND Corporation]], the [[MITRE Corporation]], the [[Institute for Defense Analyses]], the [[Aerospace Corporation]], the [[MIT Lincoln Laboratory]], and other organizations supporting various departments within the United States Government.

Similar to the above quasi-governmental organizations are [[Federal Advisory Committee Act|Federal Advisory Committees]]. These groups, sometimes referred to as commissions, are a form of think tank dedicated to advising the US Presidents or the Executive branch of government. They typically focus on a specific issue and as such, might be considered similar to special interest groups. However, unlike special interest groups these committees have come under some oversight regulation and are required to make formal records available to the public. As of 2002, about 1,000 of these advisory committees were described in the FACA searchable database.<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 November 2002 |title=Search Page |url=http://fido.gov/facadatabase/search.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021118003800/http://fido.gov/facadatabase/search.asp |archive-date=18 November 2002 |access-date=19 February 2018 }}</ref>