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Collaboration Between Think Tanks and Government in the Development of Public Policy
adopted. The nature of electoral politics often creates incentives for
policies that will produce benefits in the immediate future but may
have negative effects in the medium to long term. As long as they
are not affected by these election cycles, think tanks often have a
much broader evaluation and analysis focus than that of government
administrations. Without doubt, to the degree that think tanks are
able to build awareness and influence public opinion regarding policy
matters, the temptation of government to propose populist policies
will be reduced.
Conversely, and in third place, certain policies may have a significant
degree of opposition from certain sectors of organized civil society. In
these cases, think tanks can play an important role in raising awareness
of the positive benefits that would otherwise be ignored as a result
of the cost that overshadows them. By serving as a positive voice for
policies that may otherwise be perceived negatively, this allows the
think tank to be a tool for both citizens and government.
A fourth area of collaboration between think tanks and government is
to reach technical agreements on policy issues before the political debate
with the legislature begins. In many cases, it is likely that political
actors will reach agreements on many of the technical issues involved
in a proposed policy. Through participation and open discussion with
government, both sides can reach greater levels of technical consensus
in policy proposals, so that by the time the proposal is submitted to
political debate, all sides feel ownership over the process. Using a think
tank to help shape policy allows government to find areas of agreement
among different sectors of society. This approach can help speed up
the policy debate process and result in quicker policy approval and
implementation.
The Experience of Libertad y Desarrollo
Founded in Chile in 1990, LyD is a private independent think tank
dedicated to research and analysis for the promotion of liberty and
furthering the principles of a free society. Since its founding, LyD
