THINK TANKS AS CITIZEN PARTICIPATION FORUMS Ruurik Holm (Left Forum, Finland)

Three ways of improving participation: Developing local democracy (Luhtakallio) Participation and emancipation (Brangsch) Economic democracy as a form of participation (Sjöberg)

Think tanks are Participation forums connecting politics, bureaucracy, non-governmental organizations and academic researchers.

Various possibilities to influence the decision making process: The preparatory stage (ministries) By giving expert opinions in committees and governmental body meetings Political parties Public opinion (dissolving prevailing hegemonies, especially important for leftist think tanks) Expert debate (topics and tools for argumentation, changing background assumptions)

Participation in the preparatory stage would be the ultimate way for a think tank which aims to influence the content of the bills. In the presence of a relatively strong party system (like in Finland), it often is the case that once the government has endorsed a particular bill, there is little opposition parties can do to prevent its passage.

Lobbying Think tanks can also operate through less official channels: round table discussions, informal meetings, weekend seminars, dinner parties, etc. This type of influence does not usually become public but can be very effective.

However: If a think tank aims for democratization of the decision-making process, lobbying could be considered somewhat suspicious and even undermining the objectives of the think tank.

Indirect ways Beside direct involvement, there are more indirect ways to have a say to the content of the bills. A think tank which is close to a political party may, for example, participate in formulating the party standpoint about some actual topic.

Background In addition, a think tank may not even aim at such a straightforward role in society, but prefers to stay in the background and formulate more general views about societal issues.

Composing and publishing surveys, producing information for Political parties Public discussion (media) Expert debate

Challenges: Establishing an expert network Finding resources Media visibility

Analyzing the challenges from the point of view of a leftist think tank in Finland:

Building expert network Differences between academic and political cultures The (false?) public image of Left Alliance as blue-collar workers’ conservative party Possible bias / pressure for bias in research caused by funding institutions’ (trade unions, leftist organisations) interests

Finding resources Scarcity of resources in general (outside business). Private company funding is unlikely. Intellectually interesting survey questions may be too theoretical for funding organizations. The risk of politically non-beneficial research outcomes exists in all unbiased study.

Media visibility It is hard to gain positive media visibility for Left Alliance related activity. Media is only interested in clear, simple results. The main media does not give space to political phenomena which are not close to sources of power.

Meeting the challenges:

Expert network Providing financial resources and collaboration to do expert work may attract researchers. The image of the political left can be changed by providing more carefully founded standpoints in public discussion. Argumentation instead of rhetoric. An external scientific expert body (scientific council) to steer activity. This can work against bias in research and for guaranteeing its academic quality.

Finding resources Possible general awareness about the need to raise the quality of (political or leftist) argumentation Contacts with expert communities may be useful for funding organizations More academic (objective) touch to research yields credibility to results

Media visibility Is possible only when the message is novel, clear and well-argued Still difficult to obtain A concrete alterative is to operate outside main media, for example in the Internet

Thank you!