Sincerest Form of Flattery
Californians Deborah Rappaport and her husband,
Andy Rappaport, a partner in the venture capital firm August Capital, have
recently begun funding several progressive policy incubators, instead of simply
writing checks to the Democratic National Committee. Of the aftermath of the
2004 presidential election, Deborah says, “I would be lying if I said it didn’t
take me a long time to get out of bed in the morning.” The Republican victory
forced the couple to begin thinking differently. “The best lesson that people
can learn in any endeavor is how to fail smart, and that’s what we’re really
trying to do,” she says.
| "If you believe in the notion that ideas matter—and it’s really not that ideas
matter, ideas are the only things that matter—that they influence the way
policymakers ultimately craft legislation and/or influence the executive branch,
this is one of the most effective, intellectually honest methodologies to change
the way free people govern themselves.” —Roger Hertog |
Liberals will find it a challenge to respond effectively to the conservative
think tank juggernaut, which benefits from decades of momentum and experience
and remains exceptionally well-funded. In 2004, the four largest of the
right-leaning think tanks (Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Institute,
Cato Institute and Manhattan Institute) amassed more than $100 million,
according to their IRS filings. The largest liberal think tank, the Center for
American Progress, brought in only $16.2 million.
To emulate the success of the conservative donors, liberals will also have to
change their traditional aversion to ideological think tanks—advocacy think
tanks, as they are sometimes known. Liberals have typically earmarked their
money for specific research projects in a piecemeal fashion, and their
foundation dollars have traditionally prioritized nonpartisan research over
polemic work. “What you find is these nonconservative organizations have had to
adapt to what funders have wanted to support,” says Andrew Rich, an associate
professor of political science at the City College of New York and the author of
Think Tanks, Public Policy, and the Politics of Expertise.
Nonpartisan, analytical think tanks can still flourish, make an important
contribution to public discourse and have a profound influence on policy, as
Michael Milken’s institute has proven (see “Michael Milken’s Middle Way,” page
68). However, as the growing interest by liberals in advocacy think tanks
demonstrates, these entities are the real kingmakers in policy debates.
|
