ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to identify how the concept of 'influence' has been ingrained within the study of think tanks, from the perspective of think tanks themselves and those who study them. It begins with identifying the principal methodological issues that surround the approaches to gauging the influence of think tanks. The chapter identifies how American think tanks have traditionally defined their benchmarks of success, and what metrics have been particularly popular in constructing the impression of influence. It demonstrates that the rapid proliferation of think tanks and the increased 'capturing' of the ideological spectrum, along with the concomitant demands this has placed on think tank leadership to differentiate their organizations, has spurred the demand for the quantification of think tank 'influence'. While scholars have typically used qualitative approaches to studying think tanks, American think tanks themselves primarily use quantitative metrics as affirmations of their perceived 'influence' and the concomitant marketing of this influence to donors, policymakers, and the media.
