Empirical analysis of Czech think tanks and their role in public policy

This thesis studies the ability of Czech think tanks to take part in a public policy process. It also analyses Czech think tank's performance in terms of attracting the public, the ability to attract policy makers and evaluates Czech think tank's transparency. To obtain results the thesis uses quantitative analysis. Data used in empirical part were obtained mostly from online sources. Data used in part dealing with the think tank's ability to attract policy makers come from a self-conducted online survey. According to my results, Czech think tanks are not yet able to take part in public policy process. This result comes from high variation in Czech think tank's transparency. Empirical research also evaluated institutions which fight against corruption as the most transparent ones. Furthermore, empirical research evaluated a think tank established by former Czech president to be the best in case of attracting public and media attention. This work may serve think tank's representatives, which may use it to detect weaknesses in the performance of their institutions. Moreover, donors will receive an overview of work conducted by think tanks in the Czech Republic