Brookings at Seventy-Five

James Allen Smith

doi:10.5771/9780815705932

Summary

The historian James Allen Smith traces the evolution of Washington's oldest and prototypical think tank on the occasion of its seventy-fifth anniversary in 1991. Dedicated to bringing expertise to bear on public policy issues, Brookings has been a pioneer in bridging the disparate worlds of social science research and American policymaking. But while its efforts have been made steady, there have been frustrations and controversy over the years. Inspired by the scientific management and government efficiency movements in the Progressive Era, Brookings has evolved from an organization that consulted with government agencies on accounting and personnel practices into an institution with a wide-ranging research and publishing program as well as active public policy education and media outreach efforts. Smith vividly tells of the key individuals, beginning with Robert Brookings, who have shaped the institution. He recounts its relationships with financial supporters and presidential administrations, and he candidly discusses the problems surrounding efforts at funding. Smith places the Brookings research program in an intellectual context and within the changing policymaking environment of Washington. He reveals how Brookings has withstood seventy-five years of shifts in national politics, external perceptions on the institution, and internal leadership to emerge as one of the most prominent sources of policy expertise in the world.

The proliferation of private think tanks and the expansion of governmental research agencies in the past quarter century have changed the policy environment. The Brookings Institution, on its seventy-fifth anniversary, offers a singular vantage point from which to observe the ever-changing relationship between expert knowledge and political decisionmaking in our democracy.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2010
ISBN-Print: 978-0-8157-8008-3
ISBN-Online: 978-0-8157-0593-2
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 236
Product type: Book Titles

1. CONTENTS No access
2. FOREWORD No access
PROLOGUE: GOVERNMENT AND CRITICAL INTELLIGENCE No access Pages 1 - 8
1. WITH A VIEW TO PROMOTING EFFICIENCY No access Pages 9 - 23
2. VOICE OF OPPOSITION No access Pages 24 - 38
3. A THINK TANK COMES OF AGE No access Pages 39 - 55
4. NEW AGENDAS No access Pages 56 - 76
5. PUBLIC POLICY TOOLS No access Pages 77 - 93
6. IMAGE AND IDEOLOGY No access Pages 94 - 108
7. SHIFTING CENTERS No access Pages 109 - 129
8. CONTINUITIES AND CHANGE No access Pages 130 - 144
9. SETTING NEW AGENDAS No access Pages 145 - 162
CONCLUSION: TOWARD INTELLIGENT DEMOCRACY No access Pages 163 - 168
NOTES No access Pages 169 - 174
1. A. A BROOKINGS BIBLIOGRAPHY, 1966–90 No access
2. B. BOARD OF TRUSTEES, 1916–91 No access
3. C. FINANCIAL PROFILE, 1966–90 No access
1. A No access
2. B No access
3. C No access
4. D No access
5. E No access
6. F No access
7. G No access
8. H No access
9. I No access
10. J No access
11. K No access
12. L No access
13. M No access
14. N No access
15. O No access
16. P No access
17. Q No access
18. R No access
19. S No access
20. T No access
21. V No access
22. W No access