Behind the Scenes at Your Local Think Tank

Many people in the US think that laws and congressional legislation, as well as the major policies put forward by the President are responses to real issues that the public thinks and feels. But what if the idea that it's really insiders in Washington who set the public agenda? One think tank expert spills the beans on how they and their insider friends really determine what we get to vote on, maybe. ...

So how do you get people to accept the idea of sleeping with Uncle Sam, aka the NSA microphone under your bed? This is how think tanks move ideas from white board to policy:

Change can happen by accident, true: but it is just as often the product of deliberation and intent, and it does all of us well to understand the mechanisms by which it occurs.