What are "think tanks"? What do they do or produce? What is their function?

Question

I keep hearing about "Washington think tanks" in the news and was wondering what they are and what they do.

Answer 1

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For other uses, see Think tank (disambiguation).
A think tank (also called a "policy institute") is an organization, institute, corporation, or group that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, science or technology issues, industrial or business policies, or military advice.[1] Many think tanks are non-profit organizations, which in some countries such as the US and Canada provides them with tax exempt status. While many think tanks are funded by governments, interest groups, or businesses, some think tanks also derive income from consulting or research work related to their mandate.

While the National Insititute for Research Advancement hails think tanks as "... one of the main policy actors in democratic societies", which assure a "... pluralistic, open and accountable process of policy analysis, research, decision-making and evaluation"[2], critics of think tanks have called them "little more than public relations fronts...generating self-serving scholarship that serves the advocacy goals of their industry sponsors." [3] Critics such as Ralph Nader argue that think tanks' results are biased to a varying degree.

Answer 2

They are Funded by the Corporations that run our government and employ all of the political parasites who aren't feeding off the public at the time. When there is an election that changes who is "in power" they all rotate. Look at Rumsfeld, he has been hanging around Washington DC since the 1960s.

They are where Politicians go to sell thier souls.

Answer 3

They study stuff for living. You know those organizations like AEI, Brookings Institute and other fancy pantsy craps.

Answer 4

sit and get paid. i had friend that was in a so called think tank. it was more about getting tanked on friday night at a bar. think about there in Washington, why? to influence govt to their thinking.

Answer 5

George Bush rounds up all the smart people in America that he can find, then he throws them in a giant aquarium. He has to do this every day because he hasn't figured out that people can't breathe underwater.

Answer 6

They do research on political, economical, socio-economical, and historical issues of the day and publish them or show up on CNN/FOX/MSNBC and talk about them.

Answer 7

they are part of the corrupt lobbying system. they think up bs and write papers and place articles in newspapers mags and tv to support their rotten little agenda's for whomever pays them.

in a nutshell, more highly educated and connected pr hacks.

Answer 8

They are tanks that think. Go see the movie TRANSFORMERS.