While government bureaucracies around the world have been the traditional source of public policy initiatives and recommendations, the growing challenges to governance have made alternative or nongovernmental sources increasingly important, if not essential. The greater complexity of issues, the proliferation of nongovernmental actors and interests that must be taken into account and engaged in the policy process, the growing demands of civil society for an open, inclusive policy process and an accountable government, and the changing nature of representative government have led to a much greater demand from the political parties and legislative staffs of many countries for independent advice. However, while there is a growing acceptance of the role and value of alternative sources of public policy advice as a means to improve the quality of governance, considerable variations exist in the availability and use made of them among different countries.

Beginning in 1999, JCIE and the Brookings Institution initiated a comparative assessment of the state of alternative sources of policy advice in eight democratic countries: Brazil, England, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Poland, and the United States. Drafts of the papers were presented and discussed at a workshop held in Tokyo on May 28, 2000, as well as during one of the sessions at the Global ThinkNet Conference, held in May 2000. The papers, along with conclusions and recommendations, were published by JCIE in the volume listed below.