Unravelling the Variety of Political Party Think Tanks: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis

• In Event: Poster Session: Comparative Politics III & Comparative Politics of Advanced Industrial Societies
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Comparative Politics III

Abstract

In times where mis- and disinformation are omnipresent, fast-speed political communication is a priority and ‘politics’ and ‘political parties’ have a negative connotation, it is crucial for these political parties to invest in well-founded information and long term ideas. One way to do that is to appoint a political party think tank (PPTT). PPTTs acquire and disseminate research and information, guard the information and party positions and can act as a ‘critical friend’ of political parties. PPTTs are important to the performance by parties of their core functions by taking on different roles. By studying the role of PPTTs we gain insights into how political parties develop their knowledge and obtain advice, and on what political parties prioritise in times where well-founded political positions are threatened by the immediacy of social media. To understand the role of PPTTs in contemporary politics, I developed a typology of their key functions and target audience. But what impacts the role of these PPTTs? To answer this question this paper looks at different explanatory variables such as the level of autonomy of PPTTs towards the mother party, the impact of the Director of the PPTT and the party leader and the party ideology. In specific, the goal of this paper is to conduct a comparative case study by comparing the Belgian cases (known for a low level of autonomy) and the Dutch cases (known for a higher level of autonomy). The data is collected by means of in-depth interviews conducted with the directors of PPTTs and a document analysis. The collected data is analysed by a Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA).

Author

• Britt Vande Walle, University of Leuven