Introduction

This chapter will examine the rise of niche policy analysis organisations in response to the demand for specialised advice that is both external to government and independent of formal organised interest groups. The recent proliferation of think tanks is outlined, factors underlying this growth are considered and the spectrum of think tanks is described. The increasing reliance by government agencies on the reports of consultancy firms, for both policy advice and programme review, is documented and assessed.

Think tanks and consultants have become important channels by which research and policy expertise are brought into the policy process. With the advent of New Public Management philosophies, and despite efficiency dividends, there has been a concomitant hollowing out of policy ideas and knowledge within the public sector (Hood, 1991; Tiernan, 2012). This has left space for the emergence and consolidation of new providers of policy ideas and advice that government often choose to engage with. There are contested definitions in the policy analysis literature internationally, but it is generally agreed that think tanks are nongovernment organisations that combine strategic research with policy advocacy. An analysis of policymaking that prioritises network governance, and horizontal decision-making among a variety of cross-sector political actors (Rhodes, 1997), suggests that think tanks which bundle together experts with advocacy for new ideas and policy directions are enabled by these new aspects of policy governance. Consultants, on the other hand, are private sector actors who specialise in research evaluation and policy advice services, which are increasingly contracted-out by government agencies that, under New Public Management, no longer house the required level of expertise within their ranks. This suggests that think tanks and consultants both serve the different expert advice needs of governments, but do not provide the same function or act in the same way.

The chapter highlights the increasing diversity of Australian think tanks and the rise of consultants as government contractors in order to demonstrate how we can more comprehensively understand their policy role. Yet, it also highlights the difficulties in studying policy influence, which would need a more sophisticated and nuanced view. Think-tank influence is not always seen directly in policy outcomes, but there is evidence of involvement in other stages of the policy process, particularly through contributions to policy debates within both traditional and new digital media.