Back to Search
Start Over
'Public Policy is Like Having a Vaudeville Act': Languages of Duty and Difference among Think Tank-Affiliated Policy Experts.
- Source :
- Qualitative Sociology; Dec2010, Vol. 33 Issue 4, p549-562, 14p
- Publication Year :
- 2010
-
Abstract
- This research note uses in-depth interviews, ethnographic observations, and archival records to examine the self-understandings of think tank-affiliated policy experts. I argue that policy experts draw on a series of idioms-those of the academic scholar, the political aide, the entrepreneur, and the media specialist-to construct a unique albeit synthetic professional identity. The essence of the policy expert's role lies in a continuous effort to balance and reconcile the contradictory imperatives associated with these idioms. An analysis of the policy expert's mixed 'professional psyche' offers a useful point of entry into the objective social structure of the think tank. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 01620436
- Volume :
- 33
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Qualitative Sociology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 55023264
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-010-9166-9