Think tanks are one of many organisations meeting the ire of a populist, illiberal backlash. In parts of Europe, they are being strangled by restrictive legislation, censorship, and smear campaigns. In other parts, where democracy is not so overtly threatened, their role as providers of evidence-based arguments has been delegitimised by a political context which endorses ‘alternative facts’, dismisses policy research as elite-led exercises, and reduces the space for non-partisan debate and analysis.

Read the full article in On Think Tanks and see Rosa’s recent research paper on “What are Think Tanks For? Policy Research in the Age of Anti-Expertise.”