“How Has Think Tank Transparency Evolved in 2018” highlighted 92 think tanks that were either broadly or highly transparent. Since the report was published, three additional think tanks have been rated as either broadly or highly transparent, bringing the total to 95.
Reactor and the Center for Economic Analysis, both Macedonian institutions, reached out to us following the report’s publication to highlight their transparency. After Transparify reviewed their online financial disclosures, both were rated as highly transparent (five stars). In addition, the Elcano Royal Institute, which had never previously been rated, got in touch to highlight their transparency. After reviewing their website, we are happy to announce that they were rated as broadly transparent (four stars).
The transparency of think tanks remained a topic of importance, in 2018. Robin Niblett, the director of Chatham House, argued in a landmark speech that:
The more think-tanks seek to extend the scope of their influence beyond elites in an era of politically awakened societies, the more they will need to be transparent about their funding sources and ensure appropriate forms of governance consistent with their missions.
Similarly, the Guardian published a prominent editorial, arguing that think tanks must come clean with regards to their funding, linking to one of the assessments we have done.
A few other pieces that referred to Transparify’s work recently include Politico EU and the Brussels Talking Blog; Open Democracy, True Publica and Unearthed/Greenpeace (UK); the Washingtonian (US); the Sydney Morning Herald (Australia); La Celosia & New Barcelona Post (Spain); as well as Oblast.Online (Ukraine).
During the report launch, several think tanks rightly highlighted transparency, where they had achieved it. These included, CIDOB, EITI, ESPACIO, IISD, IDS, CPLR, TJN, and TI Georgia.
In the near future, we plan to do a very targeted assessment, similar to the focus we previously published on the United Kingdom and Canada.
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