En explorativ studie av svenska tankesmedjor och policyforskningsinstitut

Sammanfattning: Policy institutes, or think tanks as they are more commonly known, are usually described as a bridge between research and politics. With time, these organizations have taken new trajectories and today exist in various different forms – but are still referred to by the same term. This phenomenon has its counterparts in Sweden, and yet research about these organizations is nonexistent. This study investigates a selection of 23 Swedish think tanks and examines how these can be understood in the light of an American typology representing this increased diversity. It turns out that the American ideal types fairly well manage to explain many of these organizations, with some deviating aspects that lead to the suggestion of an altered Swedish typology. A more in-depth analysis is then carried out through interviews with nine think tanks selected out of these categories to understand what they perceive their role to be; what their objectives are and how they work to achieve them. Results show that Swedish think tanks either try to influence the general political debate with specific values or ideas, or operate in a more objective scholarly manner with specific target groups among policy makers.