Tag Archives: think tanks

One Month into the Fellowship

Posted on 7 March, 2013 by | Comments Off

Maksim Karliuk  is a CIPE-Atlas Corps Think Tank LINKS  Fellow serving at the Cato Institute.

I have been in the US for over a month now, and it has been quite an intense period full of professional and social engagements and making  new acquaintances.

Being here on a fellowship program that has a complicated structure makes the experience very enriching. The Think Tank LINKS Fellowship is managed by CIPE and Atlas Corps, while I’m serving the fellowship at the Cato Institute.

After the first highlight of my stay in DC, namely attending the Inauguration of the 44th U.S. President, Barack Obama, I dove into the first two weeks of the fellowship. They were organized by the Atlas Corps in the form of introductory orientation (first week) and professional training (second week). This period was quite useful in order to get acquainted with other fellows, get settled in DC, get used to things and gain some new skills. During that time, I also had an introductory meeting at CIPE together with other Think Tank LINKS fellows. Later on, this meeting had a follow up in an individual manner with the representatives of the Eastern Europe and Eurasia Department where we discussed economic and political issues in Belarus and within the Eurasian integration process.

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Think Tanks and Policy

Posted on 6 February, 2012 by | Comments Off

Diversity of ideas in policy discussions is a hallmark of democracy. While that has frustrated citizens and policymakers when opinions differ, the process of debating and discussing policy options ultimately leads to stronger, more effective policy decisions. Unfortunately, sometimes debates become embroiled with individual personality traits rather than discussions of substantive issues.

It is essential that stakeholders have access to information and research so that they can realistically weigh the implications of various policy solutions, rather than judge options based on the individuals espousing them. “Think tanks add value by supplementing political debate with policy analysis,” writes Kim Bettcher in this Economic Reform Feature Service article. Indeed, that raises the quality of policymaking, because when policy is grounded in objective research it is bound to be more effective.

Article at a glance:

  • Economic think tanks strengthen democratic governance by raising new issues, voicing alternative viewpoints, and expanding policy options.
  • Think tanks acquire policy relevance when they engage in advocacy. They must take measures, however, to preserve their credibility.
  • By observing the practices summarized in this article, think tanks can win success, balance competing pressures, and promote the public good.

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So You Want to Be a Think Tank Superstar?

Posted on 31 January, 2012 by | Comments Off

Alicia Sepúlveda, chief economist and project manager. (Photo: CEDICE)

“In life, everyone chooses the role they want to play, and I chose the role of an economist who believes in freedom…Freedom is a precious treasure, that some say is only valued when it’s lost. Nevertheless, happen what may happen, I want to remember that I fought with the Generation of Knowledge for a free society.” This is what motivates Alicia Sepúlveda to get out the door every day and head to her job as the chief economist and project manager at the Center for the Dissemination of Economic Knowledge (CEDICE), a CIPE partner which was recently ranked the 9th best think tank in Central and South America .

Last week, the University of Pennsylvania’s Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program released the 2011 Global Go-To Think Tank Rankings, in which experts rated more than 5,000 think tanks from around the world in 30 different categories. Venezuela-based CEDICE also came in at 17th in the world in terms of impact on public policy — the only Latin American think tank on that list. Another CIPE partner, the Center for the Implementation of Public Policies Promoting Equity and Growth (CIPPEC) in Argentina, was ranked the fifth best in Central and South America.

Passionate, dedicated staff like Sepúlveda are just one ingredient for top think tanks, which play an important, if often undervalued, role in democratic societies. Successful think tanks not only foster informed, democratic debate of public policies, but also serve to bridge gaps between lawmakers, civil society, and the general public.

These gaps include the  “Operational Gap,” referring to policymakers’ lack of access to tools or information necessary to respond to contemporary challenges and issues. In countries where policymakers don’t have access to reliable research or data, it is hard to make rational policies that are good for the country.

Effective think tanks also help to close the “Participatory Gap,” which arises from the self-perceived exclusion of individuals and private organizations from the policy-making process – that is, the situation where people choose not to participate in policy debates because they do not think they will be heard.

Successful think tanks coordinate policy discussions among civil society and provide a vital voice to economic constituencies. In fact, think tanks can be among the only sources of reliable economic information and data, especially in emerging market countries. Although think tanks represent just one aspect of a vibrant civil society, in many ways they have become the most influential voice of civil society in global policymaking, and can often act as a barometer of the state of a given country’s civil society.

Think tanks can play an important role even in countries where freedom of speech and political participation are limited. For example, the fact that a think tank like CEDICE can operate and impact public policy in a place that is ranked 96th out of 165 countries in democratic freedoms (according to the Economist’s Democracy Index 2010) shows remarkable hope for democracy in Venezuela.

CIPE and CEDICE have worked together since 1995 on projects that have varied in scope from training journalists on economic reporting to employing cost-benefit analysis to evaluate economic legislation and provide informed policy analysis for the public and legislators. Legislators frequently use CEDICE’s analysis in their presentations in the National Assembly, and CEDICE is the most-quoted NGO in the Venezuelan media. The Go-To Think Tank rankings show that CEDICE’s work, with CIPE support, is paying off.

The success CEDICE strives for does not happen overnight. In order to excel at advocacy, a think tank like CEDICE must conduct thorough, objective research, and be able to make their analysis easily consumable. It also requires constant effort from people like Alicia Sepúlveda who truly believe in the organization’s mission.

Even after a full day of economic analysis, phone calls and meetings with legislators, writing press releases, coordinating events, and more, Sepúlveda is not always ready to leave when the day is over. That’s what fighting for a cause you believe in – to promote liberty, entrepreneurship, and free enterprise – looks like. That is the precious treasure she, CEDICE, and CIPE, are working together to protect.

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A world of men

Posted on 3 August, 2011 by | Comments Off

In an informal survey, Foreign Policy’s Micah Zenko found that in ten prominent foreign policy think tanks in Washington DC, women made up only 21 percent of policy-related positions and 29 percent of total leadership staff. Last Thursday, Vital Voices Global Partnership hosted a tweet chat to discuss the implications of that finding and what to do about it.

Zenko posed but did not discuss an important question: what is lost when women are not represented?

Zenko lists women’s preference for ’soft power’, balancing work and family life and ’unconscious cronyism’ among male colleagues as reasons why women are under-represented in prominent foreign policy positions. And he stops there.

Vital Voices hosted the tweet chat to pick up where Zenko left off, discussing the implications of male-dominated foreign policy. Both genders from numerous fields participated in the discussion and offered various perspectives on the importance of having women in policy-making positions. Here are what some participants voiced on the lack of women in these leadership positions:

Stephenie Foster (@StephenieFoster): Studies show that women on boards can make a difference in a company’s competitiveness & openness to promoting women.

Alex Rinkus (@AlexRinkus): Lose a huge segment of perceptions. Men and women can often see things differently and act differently in same situation

Alyse Nelson (@AlyseNelson): Women look at who’s not at the table, they lead horizontally rather than vertically..this is the brand of leadership our world needs.

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon (@gaylelemmon): Women cant be both half the population AND a specl interest group. Must use voices.

Overall, the discussion was very lively and showcased the many aspects that women can bring to policy. By leading by example and having women in top foreign policy position here in the US, women in the U.S. have an opportunity to show the rest of the world the importance of having women in similar positions in their own countries.

As much as Washington wants to promote the advancement and opportunities for women around the world, it still has its own huge disparities for women.

To view more of the discussion, search for hashtag #VVleadon Twitter.

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