Donald E. Abelson is a professor of

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

. Abelson has published a number of books and articles dealing with the influence of

think tanks A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-gov ...

on public policy and foreign policy in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. He has been called a "foremost authority on think tanks" in Canada and the United States, and is a regular commentator on his research areas with the CBC and other mass media outlets.

Career

Abelson, whose focus is on American politics, foreign policy, specifically think tanks, is a professor in

's Department of Political Science. Previously, he served as Director of UWO's Centre for American Studies. Abelson was appointed as inaugural Director of the Canada-U.S. Institute on March 25, 2010, for an "initial three-year term." He is the author of several books and is a regular commentator on CBC Radio and other media outlets where he discusses current developments in American politics and Canada-U.S. relations.

Research

Abelson's research has focused on public policy, foreign policy in both Canada and the United States. Think tanks are his specific area of interest.

Think tanks

The influence and number of think tanks increased in the United States in Canada in the 1970s. The mandate of these nonprofit policy research organizations was to produce research and expert analysis to better inform those involved in making public policy. Abelson and others traced how think tanks came to resemble advocacy organizations by promoting ideological perspectives and prescriptive public policy options. In 2012, Abelson described this shift as the emergence of the "advocacy think tank". ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' cited Abelson, who had said that these new think tanks established in Washington, DC "tended to be less scholarly but increasingly political and are more likely to be tied to the fortunes of a party or a wing within a party". He has examined how

influence public policy and foreign policy in both the United States and Canada. He has been called a "foremost authority on think tanks" in Canada and the United States in the 2013 book ''Policy Expertise in Contemporary Democracies''.

Publications

Abelson is the author of a number of books on foreign policy, think tanks, and political science. His books include ''American Think-Tanks and their Role in US Foreign Policy.'' in 1996, ''Do Think Tanks Matter? Assessing the Impact of Public Policy Institutes'' in 2002, In his 2006 publication ''A Capitol Idea: Think Tanks and US Foreign Policy '', he investigated the way in which American think tanks had "become active and vocal participants in the foreign policy-making process." In 2002 he co-authored ''The Myth of the Sacred: The Charter, the Courts, and the politics of the Constitution in Canada'' with Patrick James and Michael Lusztig.

Commentator

Abelson is invited as a "regular commentator on CBC Radio and other media outlets" on topics such as "current developments in American politics and Canada-U.S. relations".

References

External links

Faculty profile (Western University)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abelson, Donald E. Living people Canadian political scientists Year of birth missing (living people) Academic staff of the University of Western Ontario Place of birth missing (living people)