Advising under constraint: how think tank autonomy, collaboration, and ideology shape policy advice in Pakistan

This study examines how think tank characteristics—capacity, autonomy, collaboration, and ideological orientation—shape the quality of policy advice in Pakistan, extending the Policy Advisory Systems (PAS) framework to developing contexts. Using content analysis of 50 policy documents from 11 think tanks (2020–2023), the study evaluates four dimensions of advice: substantiveness, specificity, long-term orientation, and goal alignment. A Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) assesses the effects of organisational attributes and government capacity, with ideology, autonomy, and collaboration treated as covariates. Findings show that autonomy significantly enhances substantive policy advice, while collaboration improves specificity and strategic focus. Ideological alignment strengthens policy relevance and coherence, particularly in politically fragmented settings. Although modest in effect, organisational capacity remains important for analytical credibility. In contrast, government capacity has limited influence on long-term advisory uptake, reflecting short-term political incentives and institutional inertia. The study highlights key reform priorities: strengthening analytical capacity, fostering cross-sector collaboration, ensuring ideological clarity, and safeguarding autonomy. These measures are essential for institutionalising evidence-informed policymaking in developing democracies. By applying PAS to a non-OECD context, the research contributes to comparative advisory systems literature and underscores the role of think tanks as knowledge brokers in constrained governance environments.