Invited guests:

• Tamás Boros (Policy Solution)
• Péter Csery (Méltányosság Policy Analysis Center)
• Tamás Lánczi (Századvég)
• Ágoston Mráz (Nézőpont Institute)

Moderator: Zoltán Kántor, PPCU Political Science Department

While in some European countries, think tanks proudly announce on their (virtual) advertisement boards that they played an active role in preparing either governmental decisions or influencing opposition policies, in Hungary it is still a matter of suspicion to be too deeply involved in politics, either as a government-associated or as an independent think tank. What is the reason for such a negative judgment in Hungarian public opinion about think tanks? What should be their proper role in politics? What tasks do they perform, and what interests do they serve or should serve? What justifies their existence in the first place, and which are those European and American patterns that they can rely on? Should they be seen as scientific institutions or as policy-making factors?  We search for answers to these (and many more) questions with the help of our invited guests.

7 March 2013, 6.30pm

Sophianum 109, 1088 Budapest Mikszáth Kálmán tér 1