Think tank scene in Finland: Nothing spectacular?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7146/politik.v19i1.27396Abstract
This article discusses the think tank scene in Finland and the modest role think tanks seem to play in public debate. In 2005, the first Finnish think tanks associated with political parties were established, and since then, several new ones have popped up. Until now, they have not received substantial media attention. One notable exception is the traditional Finnish Business and Policy Forum (EVA) that was founded in the 1970s and has secured a position as a credible public discussant. However, in light of the great popularity of think tanks in the other Nordic countries, even the public attention granted to EVA seems modest. The article presents empirical results of a media analysis and discusses possible reasons for the lesser visibility.
References
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Aula, MK 1992 ’Perässä tullaan Amerikka? – Ajatuskoe suomalaisen poliittisen julkisuuden murroksesta’ (Following after America? A Thought Experiment on the Finnish Public Sphere),
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Bjerke, P 2015, Norwegian advocacy think tanks in the media. Paper presented in the Nordmedia conference, Copenhagen 13.8.2015.
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Cottle, S (ed.) 2003, News, public relations and power. London: Sage.
Cook, TE 1989, Making Laws and Making News: Media Strategies in the U.S. House of Representatives, Washington D.C., Brookings Institution.
Davis, A 2007, The mediation of power, London, Routledge.
Hart, P & Vromen, A 2008, ‘A New Era for Think Tanks in Public Policy? International Trends, Australian Realities’, The Australian Journal of Public Administration, vol.67, no.2, pp.135-148.
http://sorsafoundation.fi/en/ (accessed 15.9.2015).
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Keohane, RO & Nye, JS 1998, ‘Power and Interdependence in the Information Age’, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 77, No. 5.
Kunelius, R, Reunanen, E & Noppari E 2009, Media Vallan Verkoissa (Media in the Webs of Power), Series A 112/2009, Research Centre for Journalism, University of Tampere.
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Osborne, T 2004, ‘On mediators: Intellectuals and the Ideas Trade in the Knowledge Society’, Economy and Society 334:430-447.
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Europe. Attitudes of Political Actors and Journalists in Nine Countries, UK, Palgrave McMillan.
Pitkänen, V 2009 ’Politiikan journalismin yhteiskunnallinen tehtävä’ (The Task of Political Journalism in Society), in V Pernaa, MK Niemi & V Pitkänen (eds.), Politiikan journalismin tila
suomessa (The State of Political Journalism in Finland), Turku, Kirja-Aurora.
Ricci, DM 1993, The Transformation of American Politics: The New Washington and the Rise of Think Tanks, New Haven, CT, Yale University Press.
Rich, A 1999, Think Tanks, Public Policy, and the Politics of Expertise, Ph.D. diss., Yale University.
Rich, A 2004, Think Tanks, Public Policy and the Politics of Expertise, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Rich, A & Weaver, RK 2000, ‘Think Tanks in the U.S. Media’, Press/Politics 5 (4): 81-103.
Rommetvedt, H, Thesen, G, Christiansen, PM & Nørgaard AS 2012, ‘Coping With Corporatism in Decline and the Revival of Parliament: Interest Group Lobbyism in Denmark and Norway, 1980–2005’, Comparative Political Studies, April 2013; vol. 46, 4: pp. 457-485.
Saari, J 2010, ’Suomalainen konsensus: Korpilammen konferenssi (1977) käännekohtana’ (The Finnish consensus: The conference of Korpilampi (1977) as a turning point), Yhteiskuntapolitiikka no. 5: 469–487.
Smith, JA 1991, The Idea Brokers: Think Tanks and the Rise of the New Policy Elite, New York, Free Press.
Stone D 2007, ‘Recycling bins, garbage cans or think tanks? Three myths regarding policy analysis institutes’, Public Administration Vol.85, No.2, 2007 (259-278).
Tarkka, J 2002, Uhan alta unioniin. Asennemuutos ja sen unilukkari EVA (To the Union Underneath the Threat. Change in Attitudes and its Facilitator EVA), Helsinki, Otava.
Thunert, MW 2004, ‘Think tanks in Germany’, in D Stone & A Denham (eds), Think Tank Traditions: Policy Research and the Politics of Ideas, Manchester, Manchester University Press, 71–88.
Tommila, P & Salokangas, R 1998, Sanomia kaikille. Suomen lehdistön historia (News to Everyone. The History of the Finnish Press), Helsinki, Edita.
Tyllström, A 2013, Legitimacy for Sale. Constructing a Market for PR Consultancy, Företagsekonomiska institutionen, Uppsala Universitet.
Warpole, K 1998, ‘Think-Tanks, Consultancies and Urban Policy in the UK’, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 22(1): 147-155.
Weaver, RK 1989, ‘The Changing World of Think Tanks’, P.S.: Political Science and Politics 22 (3): 563-79.
Allern, S 2011, ‘PR, politics and democracy’, Central European Journal of Communication, vol. 4, No 1 (6).
Allern, S & Pollack, E 2015, Swedish think tanks in the press. Paper presented in the Nordmedia conference, Copenhagen 13.8.2015.
Aula, MK 1992 ’Perässä tullaan Amerikka? – Ajatuskoe suomalaisen poliittisen julkisuuden murroksesta’ (Following after America? A Thought Experiment on the Finnish Public Sphere),
Tiedotustutkimus 15 (2): 10–23.
Bentham, J 2006, ‘The IPPR and Demos: Think Tanks of the New Social Democracy’, The Political Qarterly, Vol. 77, No 2, April-June 2006.
Bjerke, P 2015, Norwegian advocacy think tanks in the media. Paper presented in the Nordmedia conference, Copenhagen 13.8.2015.
Blach-Orsten, M & Kristensen, N 2015, Think tanks in Denmark – Media Visibility and Network Relations. Paper presented in the Nordmedia conference, Copenhagen 13.8.2015.
Braml, J 2004, US and German Think-Tanks, Nomos, Baden-Baden.
Braml, J 2006, ‘U.S. and German Think Tanks in Comparative Perspective’, German Policy Studies, Vol. 3, Nr 2, pp. 222-267.
Cottle, S (ed.) 2003, News, public relations and power. London: Sage.
Cook, TE 1989, Making Laws and Making News: Media Strategies in the U.S. House of Representatives, Washington D.C., Brookings Institution.
Davis, A 2007, The mediation of power, London, Routledge.
Hart, P & Vromen, A 2008, ‘A New Era for Think Tanks in Public Policy? International Trends, Australian Realities’, The Australian Journal of Public Administration, vol.67, no.2, pp.135-148.
http://sorsafoundation.fi/en/ (accessed 15.9.2015).
http://www.eva.fi/en/eva/ (accessed 15.9.2015).
http://www.vasemmistofoorumi.fi/en/leftforum/ (accessed 15.9.2015).
Kantola, A 2011, ‘Notkean journalismin nousu’ (Rise of Liquid Journalism), in A. Kantola (ed.), Hetken hallitsijat. Julkinen elämä notkeassa yhteiskunnassa (Rulers of the moment. Public Life in Liquid Society), Helsinki, Gaudeamus.
Keohane, RO & Nye, JS 1998, ‘Power and Interdependence in the Information Age’, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 77, No. 5.
Kunelius, R, Reunanen, E & Noppari E 2009, Media Vallan Verkoissa (Media in the Webs of Power), Series A 112/2009, Research Centre for Journalism, University of Tampere.
Lounasmeri, L & Ylä-Anttila, T 2014, ‘Ruptures in National Consensus: Economic versus Political Openness in the Globalization Debate in Finland’. In N Götz & C Marklund, C. (eds.), The Paradox of Openness. Transparency and Participation in Nordic Cultures of Consensus, Leiden, Brill.
McGann, JG 2007, Think Tanks and Policy Advice in the United States. Academics, advisors and advocates, Abingdon & New York, Routledge.
McGann, JG & Johnson, EC 2005, Comparative Think Tanks, Politics and Public Policy, Cheltenham, UK, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
McGann, JG & Weaver, RK (eds.) 2000, Think tanks and Civil Societies: Catalysts for Ideas and Action, London, Transaction Publishers.
Moring, T 2008, ‘Media and Politics in Finland’, in J Strömbäck, M Orsten & T Aalberg (eds.), Communicating Politics. Political Communication in the Nordic Countries, Gothenburg, Nordicom.
Osborne, T 2004, ‘On mediators: Intellectuals and the Ideas Trade in the Knowledge Society’, Economy and Society 334:430-447.
Pfetsch, B, Mayerhöffer, E & Moring, T 2014, ‘National or Professional? Types of Political Communication Cultures across Europe’, in B Pfetsch (ed.), Political Communication Cultures in
Europe. Attitudes of Political Actors and Journalists in Nine Countries, UK, Palgrave McMillan.
Pitkänen, V 2009 ’Politiikan journalismin yhteiskunnallinen tehtävä’ (The Task of Political Journalism in Society), in V Pernaa, MK Niemi & V Pitkänen (eds.), Politiikan journalismin tila
suomessa (The State of Political Journalism in Finland), Turku, Kirja-Aurora.
Ricci, DM 1993, The Transformation of American Politics: The New Washington and the Rise of Think Tanks, New Haven, CT, Yale University Press.
Rich, A 1999, Think Tanks, Public Policy, and the Politics of Expertise, Ph.D. diss., Yale University.
Rich, A 2004, Think Tanks, Public Policy and the Politics of Expertise, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Rich, A & Weaver, RK 2000, ‘Think Tanks in the U.S. Media’, Press/Politics 5 (4): 81-103.
Rommetvedt, H, Thesen, G, Christiansen, PM & Nørgaard AS 2012, ‘Coping With Corporatism in Decline and the Revival of Parliament: Interest Group Lobbyism in Denmark and Norway, 1980–2005’, Comparative Political Studies, April 2013; vol. 46, 4: pp. 457-485.
Saari, J 2010, ’Suomalainen konsensus: Korpilammen konferenssi (1977) käännekohtana’ (The Finnish consensus: The conference of Korpilampi (1977) as a turning point), Yhteiskuntapolitiikka no. 5: 469–487.
Smith, JA 1991, The Idea Brokers: Think Tanks and the Rise of the New Policy Elite, New York, Free Press.
Stone D 2007, ‘Recycling bins, garbage cans or think tanks? Three myths regarding policy analysis institutes’, Public Administration Vol.85, No.2, 2007 (259-278).
Tarkka, J 2002, Uhan alta unioniin. Asennemuutos ja sen unilukkari EVA (To the Union Underneath the Threat. Change in Attitudes and its Facilitator EVA), Helsinki, Otava.
Thunert, MW 2004, ‘Think tanks in Germany’, in D Stone & A Denham (eds), Think Tank Traditions: Policy Research and the Politics of Ideas, Manchester, Manchester University Press, 71–88.
Tommila, P & Salokangas, R 1998, Sanomia kaikille. Suomen lehdistön historia (News to Everyone. The History of the Finnish Press), Helsinki, Edita.
Tyllström, A 2013, Legitimacy for Sale. Constructing a Market for PR Consultancy, Företagsekonomiska institutionen, Uppsala Universitet.
Warpole, K 1998, ‘Think-Tanks, Consultancies and Urban Policy in the UK’, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 22(1): 147-155.
Weaver, RK 1989, ‘The Changing World of Think Tanks’, P.S.: Political Science and Politics 22 (3): 563-79.
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Published
2016-04-04
How to Cite
Lounasmeri, L. (2016). Think tank scene in Finland: Nothing spectacular?. Politik, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.7146/politik.v19i1.27396
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