Orville Schell, dean of the Graduate Institute of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley, describes the think tanks situated in Washington as "policy oriented." Because of their geographic location, they maintain frequent interactions with government agencies and congressmen, and their main function is to make suggestions about policy.
據加州大學柏克萊分校新聞學研究所所長 Orville Schell 分析，位於華府的多屬於「政策導向」型的智庫，他們因地利之便，與政府部門、國會議員互動頻繁，主要任務即為獻策。