Think tanks have an exotic caché, but are they really what the term implies? Although many think tanks attempt to recruit members from diverse backgrounds, many have their own agendas and merely foster members’ existing beliefs.
ERIC ALTERMAN is a CUNY Distinguished Professor of English and Journalism, Brooklyn College, "Liberal Media" columnist for The Nation; Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, the Nation Institute and the World Policy Institute. Alterman is the author of nine books, the most recent, The Cause: the Fight for American Liberalism from Franklin Roosevelt to Barack Obama (April 2012).
