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Thoughts on Think Tanks

I appreciated the obvious collaborative effort at the think tank. You could tell this from the relationship of our speaker with his colleague. I was surprised to hear of the collaborations with other think thanks from across the pond and over party lines. However, when there are so many think tanks on the conservative side of the aisle it only makes sense that you would need to work with one along the way in order to get your agenda completed. Our speaker supported the readings assertions that think tanks attract all kinds of people and professions. This was represented by the specialties from the professionals we met with at the think tank. One was focused on political theory and the other on analyzing data. Our speaker agreed with the four tropes discussed in the reading, but added a fifth type of person: the ideologically driven one. Although I understand that there are several ideological think tanks (particularly for conservatives and libertarians), to add those who are ideol...
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From Polling to Policy

It was obvious our speaker knew a lot about the polling work she does and about the history of think tanks. She seemed to be the Jane-of-all-trades at the think tank where she works and that was an inspiring role to see. Additionally, her insight into the history of public opinion allowed the class to hear about the continuity, change and contradictions over time in the United States that I didn’t get from the reading. The continuity in polls over time has been on topics concerning foreign affairs and religion. However, there has been slight changes recently. The subtle increase in the number of Americans who believe we should stay out of war seems to be related to the Trump administration. We have always had a religious country, but since the growth of generation Z and millennials, the number of people with no religious affiliation has grown. One of the more notable progressive changes that has occurred over time is the support for a women president. The belief that a woman could...
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