Universities and think tanks. Cooperation or competition?

Abstract

There are many methods and styles of academic investigation. This essay tries to contrast the investigative methods of social scientists who do research in universities with those who work in think tanks. These clear contrasts include the mode of defining problems, the methods of approaching them, the temporal orientation, the interdisciplinary nature of the work, the intended audience, and the medium used to display the findings. A contrast that explains (at least partially) the growing influence of think tanks in public discourse is the shrinking relevance of universities in it, despite the fact that university research is the source from which, inevitably, think tanks are nourished. This essay concludes with a call for attention to academic research in the social sciences in order to regain its public relevance, largely lost by a “scientific” requirement that runs the risk of isolating it.