THE ROLE OF THINK TANKS IN MANAGING THE FUTURE. (ANALITICAL REVIEW)

In: Naukovedenie, Heft 4, S. 100-119

Abstract

The paper argues that the concept of «managing the future» has become a conceptual component of state strategies for science and technologies development. Think tanks serve as one of the tools of such management. The growth of their number at the turn of the century was noted by many experts, and the author adds the lowing depersonalized trust factor to the list of known explanatory reasons. The example of the Committee on the Future of Electric Power in the U.S. as a temporary creative team in the format of a think tank, is considered. Think tanks act as substitutes for those subjects of management of the future, trust in which is declining in society. The set of such substitutions is rather blurred, its boundaries are uncertain. Consequently, a recent decline in the number of think tanks does not necessarily mean a decline in the number of substitutes.