Switzerland: Think Tanks and Vested Interests in Swiss Policy Making

This paper analyses the role of think tanks in Swiss policy
making. Starting from the relationship between interest groups and the
state, which has been shaping Swiss policy making for a long time, we
hypothesize that these structures offer good possibilities for scientific
arguments and ideas to influence the process of policy making. Our
observations from a recent example indeed illustrates that think tanks can
use the same channels as vested interests to bring in their know-how.
Furthermore, we conclude that the characteristics of the political system,
e.g. direct democracy and the consensual alignment particularly
influence the chances of think tanks to intervene. In this exchange vested
interests and think tanks do not really interfere with each other, but
rather they complement each other both having.