| This research considers the rise of conservative think tanks in the United States over the past thirty years and explains their ability to insert themselves into education policy debates. Despite the rapid growth of think tanks and arguments made by scholars, politicians, and media about their increasing power, few case studies have been conducted on how think tanks actually exercise that power. This study is based on data drawn from a content analysis of think tank websites and publications; thirty-eight interviews with staff members of think tanks, advocacy organizations, and university based education policy institutes; and a media analysis using the LexisNexis® database. This dissertation argues that conservative thinks have served as institutions from which conservative ideas can be cultivated and expressed to the public and to policy makers. The growth in conservative think tanks and their education policy divisions has been a direct result of an elite policy planning network that sought to marginalize progressive policy consultants, schools of education, and academic research more generally. The parameters of education policy debates have largely been influenced by neoconservatives, business elites, and centrist Republicans and Democrats. These groups have successfully changed the education discourse away from an equity and access paradigm to one of accountability and standards. The most clear and significant finding of influence has been the representation of conservative think tanks in education topic media stories. This has occurred in spite of the fact that as a whole, these institutions produce little research and receive far less foundation funding for education projects than do centrist and liberal think tanks. The significance of this research speaks to the marginalization of academic researchers and brings into question a larger issue of the relevancy of applied social scientific research in today's political arena. |
