Daniel Stedman Jones
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691161013
- eISBN:
- 9781400851836
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161013.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter explores how a transatlantic network of sympathetic businessmen and fundraisers, journalists and politicians, policy experts and academics grew and spread neoliberal ideas between the ...
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This chapter explores how a transatlantic network of sympathetic businessmen and fundraisers, journalists and politicians, policy experts and academics grew and spread neoliberal ideas between the 1940s and the 1970s. These individuals were successful at promoting ideas through a new type of political organization, the think tank. The first wave of neoliberal think tanks were set up in the 1940s and 1950s and included the American Enterprise Institute and the Foundation for Economic Education in the United States, and the Institute of Economic Affairs in Great Britain. A second wave of neoliberal think tanks were established in the 1970s, including the Centre for Policy Studies and the Adam Smith Institute in Great Britain, and the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute in the United States.Less
This chapter explores how a transatlantic network of sympathetic businessmen and fundraisers, journalists and politicians, policy experts and academics grew and spread neoliberal ideas between the 1940s and the 1970s. These individuals were successful at promoting ideas through a new type of political organization, the think tank. The first wave of neoliberal think tanks were set up in the 1940s and 1950s and included the American Enterprise Institute and the Foundation for Economic Education in the United States, and the Institute of Economic Affairs in Great Britain. A second wave of neoliberal think tanks were established in the 1970s, including the Centre for Policy Studies and the Adam Smith Institute in Great Britain, and the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute in the United States.
Jason Stahl
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469627861
- eISBN:
- 9781469627885
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469627861.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Political History
This chapter discusses the development of the conservative think tank in the 1970s. During this period of time, conservative think tanks grew greatly in stature as they secured new source of funding ...
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This chapter discusses the development of the conservative think tank in the 1970s. During this period of time, conservative think tanks grew greatly in stature as they secured new source of funding from wealthy conservative elites. Those at the American Enterprise Institute, the Hoover Institution, and new conservative think tanks like the Heritage Foundation and Cato Institute, used these new funds to promote conservative public policy. However, even more importantly, they used these funds to create a newly dominant understanding of debating all public policy: the marketplace of ideas. Such a discourse placed ideological differences and “balancing” these differences in a public policy marketplace as the highest valued commodity. This mode of public policy debate overtook the liberal technocratic model which had been previously dominant. This chapter shows how, by the end of the 1970s, even formerly liberal think tanks like the Brookings Institution were changing their institution to accommodate this new method of policy debate.Less
This chapter discusses the development of the conservative think tank in the 1970s. During this period of time, conservative think tanks grew greatly in stature as they secured new source of funding from wealthy conservative elites. Those at the American Enterprise Institute, the Hoover Institution, and new conservative think tanks like the Heritage Foundation and Cato Institute, used these new funds to promote conservative public policy. However, even more importantly, they used these funds to create a newly dominant understanding of debating all public policy: the marketplace of ideas. Such a discourse placed ideological differences and “balancing” these differences in a public policy marketplace as the highest valued commodity. This mode of public policy debate overtook the liberal technocratic model which had been previously dominant. This chapter shows how, by the end of the 1970s, even formerly liberal think tanks like the Brookings Institution were changing their institution to accommodate this new method of policy debate.
Pietro S. Nivola
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199764013
- eISBN:
- 9780199897186
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199764013.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
The Republican Party took a beating in the elections of 2006 and 2008. And though it is likely to recover much lost ground in this year's mid-term election, the party—and indeed conservatism ...
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The Republican Party took a beating in the elections of 2006 and 2008. And though it is likely to recover much lost ground in this year's mid-term election, the party—and indeed conservatism generally—have yet fundamentally to repair a tarnished brand. This chapter asks whether conservative think tanks played a part in the GOP's setbacks of recent years. It argues that the role of think tanks was different and more complex than has widely been supposed. Conservative policy intellectuals contributed to both the disappointments and the achievements of Republican administrations, but more consequentially to the latter. That record is of limited consolation, however, since voters tend to punish failures more than reward successes.Less
The Republican Party took a beating in the elections of 2006 and 2008. And though it is likely to recover much lost ground in this year's mid-term election, the party—and indeed conservatism generally—have yet fundamentally to repair a tarnished brand. This chapter asks whether conservative think tanks played a part in the GOP's setbacks of recent years. It argues that the role of think tanks was different and more complex than has widely been supposed. Conservative policy intellectuals contributed to both the disappointments and the achievements of Republican administrations, but more consequentially to the latter. That record is of limited consolation, however, since voters tend to punish failures more than reward successes.
Jason Stahl
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469627861
- eISBN:
- 9781469627885
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469627861.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Political History
This chapter details the entrenchment of the marketplace of ideas discourse of public policy formation during the 1980s and how think tanks used such a discourse in order to move U.S. political ...
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This chapter details the entrenchment of the marketplace of ideas discourse of public policy formation during the 1980s and how think tanks used such a discourse in order to move U.S. political culture further to the right. First and foremost, the chapter details how conservative think tanks used this new way of understanding policy in order to plan, promote, and pass their policy ideas now that Ronald Reagan was in the presidency. Specifically, the chapter contains a detailed case study of Reagan's supply-side economics tax cutting policies. Secondly, this chapter carries forward the story of the Brookings Institution and shows how it maintained its relevancy in an era of conservative ascendency. Finally, this chapter contains a detailed study of the rise of the Heritage Foundation as the premier conservative think tank in the 1980s and shows how the entrenchment of the marketplace of ideas was particularly well used by those at Heritage.Less
This chapter details the entrenchment of the marketplace of ideas discourse of public policy formation during the 1980s and how think tanks used such a discourse in order to move U.S. political culture further to the right. First and foremost, the chapter details how conservative think tanks used this new way of understanding policy in order to plan, promote, and pass their policy ideas now that Ronald Reagan was in the presidency. Specifically, the chapter contains a detailed case study of Reagan's supply-side economics tax cutting policies. Secondly, this chapter carries forward the story of the Brookings Institution and shows how it maintained its relevancy in an era of conservative ascendency. Finally, this chapter contains a detailed study of the rise of the Heritage Foundation as the premier conservative think tank in the 1980s and shows how the entrenchment of the marketplace of ideas was particularly well used by those at Heritage.
Ann Southworth
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226768335
- eISBN:
- 9780226768366
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226768366.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Legal Profession and Ethics
A timely and multifaceted portrait of the lawyers who serve the diverse constituencies of the conservative movement, this book explains what unites and divides lawyers for the three major ...
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A timely and multifaceted portrait of the lawyers who serve the diverse constituencies of the conservative movement, this book explains what unites and divides lawyers for the three major groups—social conservatives, libertarians, and business advocates—that have coalesced in recent decades behind the Republican Party. Drawing on in-depth interviews with more than seventy lawyers who represent conservative and libertarian non-profit organizations, the book explores their values and identities, and traces the implications of their shared interest in promoting political strategies that give lawyers leading roles. The book goes on to illuminate the function of mediator organizations—such as the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy—that have succeeded in promoting cooperation among different factions of conservative lawyers. Such cooperation, it finds, has aided efforts to drive law and the legal profession politically rightward and to give lawyers greater prominence in the conservative movement. The book concludes, though, that tensions between the conservative law movement's elite and populist elements may ultimately lead to its undoing.Less
A timely and multifaceted portrait of the lawyers who serve the diverse constituencies of the conservative movement, this book explains what unites and divides lawyers for the three major groups—social conservatives, libertarians, and business advocates—that have coalesced in recent decades behind the Republican Party. Drawing on in-depth interviews with more than seventy lawyers who represent conservative and libertarian non-profit organizations, the book explores their values and identities, and traces the implications of their shared interest in promoting political strategies that give lawyers leading roles. The book goes on to illuminate the function of mediator organizations—such as the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy—that have succeeded in promoting cooperation among different factions of conservative lawyers. Such cooperation, it finds, has aided efforts to drive law and the legal profession politically rightward and to give lawyers greater prominence in the conservative movement. The book concludes, though, that tensions between the conservative law movement's elite and populist elements may ultimately lead to its undoing.
David Wheeler-Reed
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780300227727
- eISBN:
- 9780300231311
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300227727.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This chapter unmasks modern forms of power that use Christianity in the service of policing modern society in the United States. It examines certain claims that marriage and procreation can save our ...
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This chapter unmasks modern forms of power that use Christianity in the service of policing modern society in the United States. It examines certain claims that marriage and procreation can save our world, and it contends that modern American sexual ethics are not “Judeo-Christian.” By analyzing discourses on marriage and sexuality as diverse as those from the Heritage Foundation, the Family Research Council, the USCCB, and the Supreme Court, it concludes that modern American sexual ethics—be they secular or Christian—are built on the principles of the Augustan marriage legislation and not on the values of early Christianity. Instead of hailing American values as “Judeo-Christian,” this chapter suggests renaming them “neo-imperial-capitalist.”Less
This chapter unmasks modern forms of power that use Christianity in the service of policing modern society in the United States. It examines certain claims that marriage and procreation can save our world, and it contends that modern American sexual ethics are not “Judeo-Christian.” By analyzing discourses on marriage and sexuality as diverse as those from the Heritage Foundation, the Family Research Council, the USCCB, and the Supreme Court, it concludes that modern American sexual ethics—be they secular or Christian—are built on the principles of the Augustan marriage legislation and not on the values of early Christianity. Instead of hailing American values as “Judeo-Christian,” this chapter suggests renaming them “neo-imperial-capitalist.”
Jason Stahl
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469627861
- eISBN:
- 9781469627885
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469627861.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Political History
This chapter focuses on how, after the Cold War and in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the think tank was one of the key institutions involved in pushing a militarized U.S. ...
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This chapter focuses on how, after the Cold War and in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the think tank was one of the key institutions involved in pushing a militarized U.S. foreign policy response. In order to delineate this involvement, chapter six looks at two bodies of think tanks. First, it examines neoconservative think tanks such as the American Enterprise Institute and their role in promoting and implementing such a vision. Secondly, the chapter examines the Brookings Institution, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Democratic Leadership Council to show how these institutions, in combination with their more right-wing counterparts, created an elite consensus around a militarized response to 9/11, including an invasion of Iraq. Finally, the 2000s also brought about a new think-tank-related dynamic as the decade was a time when the rejection of empirical expertise seeped into the state itself. With think tanks appointees from the Heritage Foundation leading the way within the administration of George W. Bush, the administration accepted the idea that technocratic policy planning by “experts” was impossible as such a model was inherently biased toward liberalism.Less
This chapter focuses on how, after the Cold War and in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the think tank was one of the key institutions involved in pushing a militarized U.S. foreign policy response. In order to delineate this involvement, chapter six looks at two bodies of think tanks. First, it examines neoconservative think tanks such as the American Enterprise Institute and their role in promoting and implementing such a vision. Secondly, the chapter examines the Brookings Institution, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Democratic Leadership Council to show how these institutions, in combination with their more right-wing counterparts, created an elite consensus around a militarized response to 9/11, including an invasion of Iraq. Finally, the 2000s also brought about a new think-tank-related dynamic as the decade was a time when the rejection of empirical expertise seeped into the state itself. With think tanks appointees from the Heritage Foundation leading the way within the administration of George W. Bush, the administration accepted the idea that technocratic policy planning by “experts” was impossible as such a model was inherently biased toward liberalism.
Martin A. Schain
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780199938674
- eISBN:
- 9780190054649
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199938674.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter analyzes the shift in border policy in the United States. The shift evolved with what was framed as the surge of undocumented immigration after 1980, and the securitization of what had ...
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This chapter analyzes the shift in border policy in the United States. The shift evolved with what was framed as the surge of undocumented immigration after 1980, and the securitization of what had been a circulation of workers from Mexico to and from the United States. The perception of failure of immigration policy emerged not from a widespread reaction to a sense of failed integration, as in Europe, but to the increased political focus on the growth of the population of undocumented immigrants. The progressive reinforcement of the border, particularly after 1992, had the perverse effect of providing an incentive for migrants to remain on the US side in larger numbers than ever before. The growth of the undocumented population weighed on the political process in three ways. First, it fed a growing perception of failure of the adequacy of southern border controls. Second, as the issue of the border became politicized, it began to undermine stable understandings of policy within the policy network on immigration. Third, the border became a growing focus for intra- and interpolitical party conflict, and was accelerated by federal dynamics.Less
This chapter analyzes the shift in border policy in the United States. The shift evolved with what was framed as the surge of undocumented immigration after 1980, and the securitization of what had been a circulation of workers from Mexico to and from the United States. The perception of failure of immigration policy emerged not from a widespread reaction to a sense of failed integration, as in Europe, but to the increased political focus on the growth of the population of undocumented immigrants. The progressive reinforcement of the border, particularly after 1992, had the perverse effect of providing an incentive for migrants to remain on the US side in larger numbers than ever before. The growth of the undocumented population weighed on the political process in three ways. First, it fed a growing perception of failure of the adequacy of southern border controls. Second, as the issue of the border became politicized, it began to undermine stable understandings of policy within the policy network on immigration. Third, the border became a growing focus for intra- and interpolitical party conflict, and was accelerated by federal dynamics.
