Think tank traditions is a follow up to the critically acclaimed monograph Think Tanks across Nations (Manchester University Press, 1998), edited by the same authors, which was widely acknowledged as a ground-breaking work in the comparative study of think tanks. The book looks at the historical role and contemporary significance of think tanks in the West, including Europe, the United States and Canada, as well as considering their activities in China, Eastern Europe and Argentina. In so doing, the book provides a broad-based and in-depth analysis of the role of think tanks in the processes of economic liberalization and democratization.

Diane Stone is a Reader in Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick. For two years from 2004, she will be Professor and Co-Director of the Center for Policy Studies at the Central European University in Budapest. Andrew Denham is Reader in Government at the University of Nottingham.

Introduction: Think Tanks, Policy Advice and Governance--Diane Stone * Part I: The International Dimension * Institutes of International Affairs in Foreign Policy Making, Opinion Mobilisation and Unofficial Diplomacy--Inderjeet Parmar * Think Tanks Beyond Nation States--Diane Stone * European Union Think Tanks: Generating Ideas, Analysis and Debate--Heidi Ullrich * Part II: European Think Tank Traditions * Think Tanks in Germany--Martin Thunert * Italy: Think Tanks and the Political System--Sonia Lucarelli and Claudio M. Radaelli * French Think Tanks in Comparative Perspective--Catherine Fieschi and John Gaffney * Think Tanks, Post Communism and Democracy in Russia, Central and Eastern Europe--Mark Sandle * Part III: Think Tanks in Democratic Development and Economic Transition * The Chinese Tradition of Policy Research Institutes--Ming Chen Shai With Diane Stone * Think Tanks in Japan: A New Alternative--Makiko Ueno * Think Tanks and Malaysian Development--Su Ming Khoo * Think Tanks in Developing Countries: Lessons From Argentina--Miguel Braun, Antonio Cicioni and Nicholas J. Durote * Part IV: The Anglo-American Tradition * The Business of Ideas: A Look at the Think Tank Industry in the United States--Don Abelson * A 'Hollowed Out' Tradition? British Think Tanks in the Twenty-First Century--Andrew Denham and Mark Garnett * Australian Think Tanks--Ian Marsh and Diane Stone * Three Decades of Canadian Think Tanks: Evolving Institutions, Conditions and Strategies--Evert A. Lundqvist * Afterword: Soft Power, Global Agendas--William Wallace