The Role and Position of Think Tanks as Policy Actors (in Persian)

Purpose: Think thanks grew dramatically in the twentieth century with the rise of democracies and the increasing complexity of governments. In Iran, more than one hundred think tanks appeared before and after the revolution. While overseas think tanks have been pioneers in policymaking for the development and maintenance of sustainability in their communities, they have guided governments and their countries in economic, social, political, and cultural spheres. However, the Iranian think tanks have not been able to play the role of pioneers in these spheres towards policymaking and development. Methodology: Although the nature of this comparative study was descriptive and analytical, it aimed to discover relationships among concepts and to understand similarities and disparities. The approach was intra-case analysis. We performed this comparative study on a sample of twenty-four think tanks selected from among the think tanks of developed and developing countries dispersed all over the continents. Findings: Iranian think tanks are far behind those of overseas in terms of mission and goals, organizational structure and development, diversification of financial resources, expert and supportive manpower context, outputs related to policymaking, multiplicity of research and subject areas, reflection of activities and findings in mass media and social media, dissemination and distribution of scientific and promotional resources, developing skills and university education, participation in scientific networks, decision-making and policymaking. Originality: Considering such elements as quantitative method, number of variables studied, and geographic dispersion of statistical population, this study is more valuable compared to similar research.