Why Donald Trump Won the Election and Does it Mean The End To Think Tanks and Policy Advice as we Know it?

To understand the anger, insecurity, fear and frustration of the electorate we must dig deeper.

The sources of this discontent are as follows: (1) economic insecurity; (2) physical insecurity; (3) loss of national and personal identity; (4) global disorder; (5) crisis of confidence in institutions of government and elected officials; and (6) information insecurity. 

These factors when taken together create a sea of insecurity that drives populism and politicians who tweet simple solutions to complex problems. Tweets mobilize and energize but they don’t analyze or realize real change. The Brexit and 2016 election marks monumental failure of pollsters, pundits and think tanks to predict the referendum in the UK or the US Presidential election — more importantly to understand and create responsive and constructive narrative. 

Traditional measures of impact and policy research are less relevant than ever, and the best mediums for reaching policy makers and the public are in a constant state of flux. This poses an existential challenge for think tanks but also an incredible opportunity to increase the quality of their output and their ability to reach a larger audience. 

To analyse how think tanks must respond to these new dynamics, CIDOB organises a debate with James G. McGann, director of the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program at the University of Pennsylvania, on May 31.