智库概念界定和评价排名：亟待探求的命题

Think Tanks:The Quest to Define and to Rank Them

学术界对智库的概念界定尚未取得一致意见。现有的大多数概念界定没有一个能够完全令人满意。国家情境下智库的运作存在诸多差异,智库运用不同的活动、扮演不同的角色、追求多元化的价值目标。因此,区域性或全球性的智库评价排名一直备受质疑。智库评价一般以智库的产出、智库的公共宣传或其他以绩效为导向的评价标准为支撑。但是这些标准通常难以衡量或不适合操作。尤其困难的是评价智库的政策影响力。多个版本的评价排名试图测量智库的产出,也就是通常被视为"中介产品"的产出。测评这些产出有助于获得智库的知名度,但这不是其对政策的真实影响。

There is no agreement on what essentially defines a think tank. Many definitions have been offered, but not one is en- tirely satisfactory. The national contexts in which think tanks operate differ and so do the ways in which they perform their various activities and roles in pursuing their manifold missions. Think tank rankings at the regional or global lev- els are thus always dubious. Output, public outreach or other performance--based criteria are usually offered to but- tress think tank rankings, but these criteria are often not weighed or properly operationalized. It is especially difficult to assess think tanks＇ policy-oriented influence. Various rankings try to measure some of the output produced by think tanks - output that can be understood as “intermediary products.” Counting such products can help to get a better idea of think tanks＇ visibility, but not of their actual impact on public policy.