Think‑tank Honors Launder Influence

Honorary chairs, prizes, and keynote circuits can act as reputation laundering: donors endow titles and aligned institutes reward insiders, producing polished credentials that mask funding ties and channel ideas into policy networks. That theatre sustains careers, amplifies recycled arguments, and steers public attention toward donor‑friendly frames. — If true, the practice undermines democratic accountability by making donor‑aligned views look like independent expertise and skewing which ideas reach policymakers and the public.