“Society’s course will be changed only by a change in ideas. First you must reach the intellectuals, the teachers and writers, with reasoned argument. It will be their influence on society which will prevail, and the politicians will follow.”

– F.A. Hayek.

This quote has been framed on the wall at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), the oldest free-market think tank in the UK. It highlights Hayek’s scepticism about the party political process. When Anthony Fisher first read Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom, he was inspired to go into politics to help reverse the continuous march toward socialism in the western world. However, Hayek warned Fisher not to go into party politics and instead explained that he should establish a think tank. Anthony Fisher took Hayek’s advice and the IEA was established in 1955. Since then, the IEA’s mission has been to promote free-market values, mostly through publications that are aimed at the intellectual class. The theory is that intellectuals, or “second hand dealers in ideas”, have a huge, albeit indirect, impact on the general public’s ideas.

Many believe that those in think tanks are guilty of sitting in an ivory tower, doing work that is of no relevance to the general public. Yet this overlooks the true significance of what think tanks do. Their goal is to influence the general public; they simply do so in a different way to political parties. Think tanks seek to influence the public less directly, by appealing to journalists and teachers who will then pass the information down to the rest of society. It’s true that nobody from the IEA will be knocking at your door and handing you a leaflet. But every day they will be in a major newspaper or will appear on TV, promoting a libertarian message. That is just as important.

Ultimately, there is no reason to choose between the two. I believe that the most effective strategy is to work both in party politics and with think tanks. If anybody is reading this and would quite like to get more involved with think tanks, the good news is that the UK is probably the second best country to live in (behind America) in terms of prevalence of good libertarian think tanks. Getting involved is simple – you can follow their progress by signing up to free newsletters, or better yet, by paying to be a member. It’s also worth liking them on facebook and following them on twitter. Beyond this I would highly recommend attending their events. Many think tanks provide internship opportunities and working for a think tank can be a full time career.

So which think tanks do I recommend? The Adam Smith Institute, The Institute of Economic Affairs, The Cobden Centre, The Freedom Association and The TaxPayers’ Alliance would be a good place to start. The beauty of working with these organisations is that it unites libertarian activists from many different political parties. Members of UKIP, the Liberal Democrats and the Tories, all marginalized within their respective parties, can work together to promote the same message. Even for those more concerned about grassroots activism, it would provide a great opportunity to meet likeminded people who might well be willing to join you for a protest or two. So hopefully some of you have been convinced that working with think tanks is a worthwhile endeavour, and if so, I hope to be seeing you at many of their events in the coming months.