PUBLIC-SECTOR THINK TANKS IN INTERAGENCY POLICY-MAKING - DESIGNING ENHANCED GOVERNANCE CAPACITY

Since World War Two, the role of non-profit think tanks in the United States has grown and diversified. Today, the United States' government and Congress is advised on many matters of policy-making and implemen tation by such think tanks. The Westminster system of parliament, as p ractised in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, ha s rarely provided a fertile ground for the creation and sustained exis tence of such privately operated institutions. Despite limited links w ith similar United States' organizations, the seeds have never really flourished outside the United States of America. Australian Commonweal th governments have been most antagonistic in this regard. On the othe r hand, management consulting companies, many of which have headquarte rs in the United States, lobbyists, and corporate representation flour ish in the quasi-corporatist political environment carefully construct ed by the Australian Labor party (ALP) government since 1983. Policy-r elated research divisions and statutory authorities have likewise grow n in size and importance within the departmental agencies of governmen t itself. Energy, agriculture, immigration, and social service researc h ''arms'' have been encouraged within the ministerial arena of policy analysis and advice. Especially important has been micro and macro-ec onomic research, urban and infrastructural planning, the Industry Comm ission, and the Bureau of Industry Economics, respectively. This paper will analyse the growth of these specialized forms of government thin k tanks, study the range of their ministerial advice, and speculate ab out their changing role in an increasingly ''managerialist'' type of W estminster-style parliamentary setting.