Chiang says that originally the NPF established research groups to parallel each of the 12 committees in the Legislative Yuan, in order to address issues before the legislature, although later these were reorganized into eight groups.
他指出，基金會的研究組別設計初期是對照立法院的十二個委員會設立，以求能在立法院議事上發揮影響力，但最後整合成八個組，外界也因此稱國研基金會的各組召集人為「影子內閣」。