Think-tanks in Germany: the Bertelsmann Foundation’s role in labour market reform

Applying Maarten Hajer’s concept of the discourse coalition, this article presents a case study of a German think-tank, the Bertelsmann Foundation, and its involvement in labour market reform in Germany between 1998 and 2005 under the Social Democratic chancellorship of Gerhard Schröder. The article covers new ground in as far as there is only scant in-depth research about German think-tanks available. Furthermore, not many studies ask ‘how do they do it?’, but are limited to the description of the organisational form of think-tanks or to general mapping exercises of a nation state’s think-tank landscape. The specific involvement of the Bertelsmann Foundation in this policy process has been mostly discussed by critical journalists who, however, have often done so in an overly polemic and sensationalist manner. This analysis wants to address these shortcomings.