Editing Think tank (section)

== Governmental theory ==
The role of think tanks has been conceptualized through the lens of social theory. Plehwe argues that think tanks function as ''knowledge actors'' within a network of relationships with other knowledge actors. Such relationships including citing academics in publications or employing them on advisory boards, as well as relationships with media, political groups and corporate funders. They argue that these links allow for the construction of a ''discourse coalition'' with a common aim, citing the example of deregulation of trucking, airlines, and telecommunications in the 1970s.<ref name=":8">{{Citation |last=Plehwe |first=Dieter |title=The politics of policy think-tanks: organizing expertise, legitimacy and counter-expertise in policy networks |date=18 December 2015 |work=Handbook of Critical Policy Studies |pages=358–379 |url=https://china.elgaronline.com/display/edcoll/9781783472345/9781783472345.00028.xml |access-date=21 October 2024 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |language=en-US |isbn=978-1-78347-235-2}}</ref>{{Rp|page=369}} Plejwe argues that this deregulation represented a discourse coalition between the [[Ford Motor Company]], [[FedEx]], [[Neoliberalism|neo-liberal]] economists, the [[Brookings Institution]] and the [[American Enterprise Institute]].<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|page=372}}

[[Elite theory]] considers how an "elite" influence the actions of think tanks and potentially bypass the political process, analysing the social background and values of those who work in think tanks. Pautz criticizes this viewpoint because there is in practice a variety of viewpoints in think tanks and argues it dismisses the influence that ideas can have.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pautz |first=Hartwig |date=2011 |title=Revisiting the think-tank phenomenon |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0952076710378328 |journal=Public Policy and Administration |language=en |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=419–435 |doi=10.1177/0952076710378328 |issn=0952-0767}}</ref>{{Rp|page=424}}