Catalyst for ideas and action
legal environment, political culture, and intellectual environment. The Marketplace For think-tanks to fulfill their mission of improving public policy, they must operate in two distinct but overlapping markets: a market for funding and a market for policy advice. Where markets do not exist but are desired, they can be created. In the absence of a strong corporate philanthropic tradition, a government can privatize some of its own internal research functions, spinning-off some of its own personnel to augment private, independent think-tanks that already exist. Think-tanks can also be created through higher education policy, when funding for fellowships can be tied to "applied" settings and vocations. While university faculty members are often skeptical of policy research, the right incentives can change their minds. Moreover, the think-tank marketplace is becoming increasingly globalized. Major funders of policy research increasingly operate across national boundaries, while think-tanks are carrying out work transnationally and in joint ventures with think-tanks abroad. Thus, it is not necessary that Canadian think-tanks be benefited only by Canadian donors and the Canadian government. If the expertise exists, or can be coaxed into existence by government "pump-priming�, funding and intellectual partnerships can come from outside the country. The fact that the "international" language is increasingly English, and not just English but North American English, gives Central America and the Caribbean a special advantage in this regard. The Legal Environment As to the tax environment, if the government wishes to move from an initial situation in which government itself is the major source of funds for new think-tanks to a more "democratized" and privatized situation like that in the United States, then it must make it both legally possible and economically rational for a large non-profit sector to arise. Since rates of taxation in the region are fairly low, the possibilities of adjusting the code are many. Political Culture As to political culture, governments can help create an informal interlocking directorate of their own that binds together government, academia, foundations, elite journalism, and think-tanks. Getting academics into the policy world can be aided
ETHOS GUBERNAMENTAL
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