Introduction

Although think tanks are probably most developed in the US, as is their scholarly analysis, they and various other policy-oriented research institutions have played a significant role in the political systems of many established democracies (see for example McGann and Weaver, 2000; McGann, 2009). Likewise, they have become an important part of EU politics. In general, think tanks research public policies and produce different types of both evidence-based and ideologically driven expertise, opinions and recommendations which serve several types of audiences, mostly policy makers and the media. In a developed political system, one can find different types of think tanks working in the framework of various policy discourses. In this chapter we focus on think tanks and policy discourses in the Czech Republic.

Drawing on available information, the aim of this chapter is to map out and analytically describe Czech think tanks. First we define think tanks and present their established typology; second, we introduce discursive institutionalism and define policy discourses. Further, we differentiate Czech think tanks on the basis of their belonging to these discourses, summarise the basic characteristics of the most important Czech think tanks, and pay particular attention to their connectedness to other actors in the field. Do they establish connections within their particular discourse, or do they link up across the discourses? Consequently, are they able to serve as integrative agents in the public sphere, or do they seem to contribute to the building of rather autonomous ideological currents in the Czech Republic? Which of these currents is the most developed?

Think tanks and policy discourses

Think tanks form a special type of civil society organisation or NGO, whose purpose is the production of policy-relevant expert knowledge typically offered to public institutions, state officials and the media. According to McGann (2009, p 9):

In general, think tanks research issues relevant to public policies and formulate policy recommendations. Four basic types, namely academic, contractual, advocacy and party-affiliated think tanks, can be distinguished (here and in the next two paragraphs we draw on McGann and Weaver, 2000, pp 1-36; see also Table 16.1).