Think tanks have been active in social policy research for over a century. In the last few decades, however, there has been a massive worldwide proliferation of these organizations. At the same time, many of these bodies have come to research dimensions of global social policy and have become increasingly globalized in their own activity. Increased numbers do not determine influence over policy, but the international networking and transnational collaborative arrangements of these institutes in research, policy advice and implementation have contributed to the creation of coalitions; that is, global policy networks that enhance the potential impact of these organizations. One facet of think tank impact on the global order is the propensity for lesson-drawing that aids cross-national policy transfers of ideas, practices and policy programmes. The international spread of ideas can contribute to an ‘atmospheric’ form of influence on the climate of policy thinking whereas policy transfer usually involves more concrete forms of agenda-setting and political decision-making.
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