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It boggles my mind. People actually think think tank are independent?
by kiba 10y ago
It boggles my mind. People actually think think tank are independent?
- Karmage 10y agoWhy not? People can be independent and still have ideas congruent with a single political party. You vote. Does that mean that you aren't independent of that political party? It is no different with groups of people.
- whatshisface 10y ago>People can be independent and still have ideas congruent with a single political party. Yes, but what are the odds? It'd be an awful lot more believable-when-seen if we didn't have a special built-in bias mechanism whose function is to create exactly that situation.
- laretluval 10y agoWhy would a researcher funded by government grants be more independent than a researcher at a think tank funded by a corporation?
- leot 10y agoBecause gov't grants are awarded by a committee of people with lots of different opinions, while corporations have only one interest in mind.
- 1123581321 10y agoCareful: a government board has one interest (welfare of its constituents) and multiple opinions about how to serve it. A corporate board has one interest (welfare of its shareholders) and multiple opinions above to how to serve it. Besides that, both types of boards can have a variety of unofficial/official power structures, consideration of the welfare of non-constituents/non-shareholders, and varying degrees of competency. This isn't to say that any type of governing body has arbitrary properties. Predictable inequalities exist.
- atemerev 10y agoGovernments also have only one interest in mind: continuity of power and welfare of the government members. Or somebody still thinks that governments serve the people?
- imh 10y agoIn theory, the government should be more transparent.
- dredmorbius 10y agoGovernments are accountable to constituencies and/or electorates. Companies to directors, management, stockholders, and other stakeholders, roughly in that order (where stakeholders == employees, customers, vendors, business partners, community, etc.). Governments can be investigated by legislators, executive agencies, and courts, as well as subject to document requests (e.g., FOIA in the US), and journalists. Governments themselves don't typically operate as an advertiser in the press, hence, putting purse control over coverage. Governments are typically more long-lived, and hence have longer-lived planning and concern horizons, than corporations. It's not perfect, but political power is a check on corporate or financial power, one of several.
- snowwrestler 10y agoEven this article says: > At think tanks like Brookings, the majority of reports and events...have no obvious link to corporate donors.