The political think‐tanks in the UK and the ministerial cabinets in France

Abstract

In the United Kingdom, since the electoral victory of the Conservative Party in 1979, the right‐wing think‐tanks, in particular the Centre for Policy Studies, have had direct access to government. In France, the ministerial cabinets have long been a site of interaction between political reflection and policy initiatives. Since 1981, the French left, far from restricting the influence of the cabinets, has used them to enhance its control over the innovation, passage and application of reformist legislation. The comparison of a reformist right and a reformist left government's relationship to the formulation of policy is illustrative of the channels through which political ideas gain currency in representative democracy.