Think tanks and policy analysis in Turkey

Abstract

This chapter traces the history of think tanks in Turkey and presents the results of content analyses of the policy papers produced by think tanks in the 2000s. The historical context of the development of think tanks since the 1960s, particularly the democratisation process and internationalization, are discussed. Data collection or analysis methods were applied in a very small percentage of the earlier papers. Most of the papers include an abstract or executive summary, but smaller percentages of them include purpose statements and problem definitions. A large majority of the papers are descriptive and they lack recommendations or evaluations. There are noticeable improvements in the inclusion of purpose statements and problem definitions in the papers over time, but data collection and analysis methods were used in only slightly more papers over time. The number of Turkish think tanks grew over time and they have become more active and influential in foreign affairs, democratization, human rights, energy and migration. The chapter concludes that the proliferation of the numbers and activities of think tanks in recent decades in Turkey and the growing community of public policy scholars, who have played roles in think tanks, hold promise for the future development of public policy as a distinct academic discipline in Turkey.