The Acton Institute has again been named a leading think tank by the University of Pennsylvania’s Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program. Writing about this new, 2012 ranking, Alejandro Chafuen, explained what constitutes a good think tank on the Forbes website:

A “market-oriented” think tank is grounded on the reality that respect for private property within a context of rule of law with limited government has been the path for the wealth of nations. Think tanks that are not market-oriented study how to redistribute wealth, how to increase taxation, or the optimum rate of monetary debasement. Governments have typically relied on their own internal think tanks for that research, plemented it by research from state-subsidized universities. Market-oriented think tanks focus on finding private solutions to public problems.

Chafuen is president and chief executive officer of Atlas Economic Research Foundation and board member of the Acton Institute. You can read his full article, “Thinking About Think Tanks: Which Ones Are the Best?” at .

The full news release from the Acton Institute follows:

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Jan. 24, 2013)—The University of Pennsylvania’s Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program ranked the Acton Institute among the top social policy and top U.S. think tanks with the release of its 2012 Global Go-To Think Tanks Report. In addition, Acton was cited for having one of the best advocacy campaigns.

The Acton Institute was ranked 13th in the “Top 50 Social Policy Think Tanks” (down one place from 2011), 34th in the “Top 55 Think Tanks in the United States” (up from 39th in 2011), and 19th out of 75 under “Best Advocacy Campaign,” a new category in 2012. The advocacy ranking includes organizations such as Amnesty International (#1), the Heritage Foundation (#15), and the One Campaign (#20). The Acton Institute was singled out for its work on religious liberty and economic freedom, including the PovertyCure initiative. Endorsed by more than 180 partners, PovertyCure released a documentary-style, six-episode DVD series in December that discusses aid, enterprise and asks the question, “How do people create prosperity for their families and munities?”

James G. McGann, director of the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program, and his research team conducted and published the detailed report which looked at 6,603 think tanks from 182 countries. The program states that its “primary objective is to recognize some of the world’s leading public policy think thanks and highlight the notable contributions these institutions are making to government and civil societies worldwide … the ‘Think Tank Index’ has e the authoritative source for the top public policy institutions around the world.”

McGann observes that the nature of think tank work is changing, that “think tanks must be lean, mean, policy machines.” He also points out that, although the rate of establishing new think tanks has dropped in the last few years, “the growth of public policy research organizations, or think tanks, over the last few decades has been nothing less than explosive.” He warns that any organizations that “fail to organize and integrate these qualities into their think tank will e known for their ‘pedantry, irrelevance, obscurity, poverty and conventionality.’”

The report lists several trends that are driving the growth of think tanks, especially in countries located outside of North America and Europe. Notable trends include: globalization, plexity of policy issues; global “hacktivists,” anarchist, and populist movements; global structural adjustment; and policy tsunamis. Policy tsunamis refers to “an increasing number of political, natural and social phenomena at the national level [having] a global impact.”

The entire report is available from the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program here.

Acton is also preparing to move into new offices at 98 E. Fulton St. in downtown Grand Rapids. The institute has invested $6.5 million in the acquisition and renovation of the property. A March move-in is planned.

Highlights from the Think Tanks Report:

Acton Institute 13th in the Top Social Policy Think Tanks (12th in 2011)Acton Institute 34th in Top Think Tanks in the United States (39th in 2011)19th in Best Advocacy Campaign (new category)1,647 think tanks were nominatedThere are 1,823 think tanks in the U.S. (more than twice the amount in 1980)Washington is home to almost 25 percent of American think tanksOver 60 percent of think tanks worldwide are in Europe and North America