Think Tanks as Collective Policy Entrepreneurs and the Art of Policymaking in Ghana

Since Kingdon introduced the idea of policy entrepreneurs in the policymaking literature, scholarly interests have continued to discuss how these entrepreneurs get involved in the policymaking process and the kind of influence they exert in shaping policies. Policy entrepreneurs are seen as outsiders who expend resources to either promote a policy or ensure policy change to existing policies. Policy entrepreneurs can either be individuals or collectives who work outside the government system and often play the role of policy analysts, educators, academics, and workers in non-governmental organizations and think tanks (TTs). Unfortunately, while individuals and collective policy entrepreneurs continue to receive significant attention in the extant literature, organizations such as TTs have not received the same attention. In short, there is a dearth of studies about these institutions as policy entrepreneurs. This dearth is even more pronounced when it comes to Africa. The essence of this chapter is, therefore, to examine these shifts in operational strategies of TTs from competitive to collaborative appeals in their attempts at influencing public policymaking in Ghana. The study is important since these organizations have the power to set research agendas, which influence government policy decisions, policy focus, and public purposes for the benefit of society, especially under democratic governance.