Bodies such as the Heritage Foundation and the Hoover Institute have been influential since the days of the Reagan administration, and are now prominent again under President George W. Bush.
"They certainly influence the people or reinforce the ideas of the people who influence the President," according to political scientist Stephen Wayne of Georgetown University.
"It is not only an influence, it's a reinforcement, really, of the directions which this administration has taken in most of its conservative agenda," Wayne said, citing the war against Iraq, the 'war on terror' and also the economy.
The neo-conservatives are also adept at ensuring their message is heard in the media and influences the public discourse, analysts said.
"They're much more effective, a much more strategic model, than what's done on the Left in disseminating information to the public, the media, Congress," according to analyst Jeff Krehely.
As far back as 1998, under the Clinton presidency, a survey by media watchdog FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting) showed that "over half (53 per cent) of quotes broadcast by the media came from right-wing thinktanks" against only 16 per cent from the Left.
This disparity has grown under the latest Bush administration.
Krehely, a member of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, noted that right-wing thinktanks can also rely on more generous, and numerous, benefactors than their left-wing counterparts.
As well as ensuring a high media profile for their ideologies, the thinktanks also act as a breeding ground for political advisors.
Richard Perle, one of the Pentagon's leading hawks and a key proponent of the 'pre-emptive strike' doctrine, is a member of the ultra-conservative American Enterprise Institute (AIE).
Lynn Cheney, wife of the vice-president, is also a member.
Former House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich also used the AIE as a forum from where to attack the State Department and Secretary of State Colin Powell -- who regularly comes under fire from the hawks.
The State Department has remained relatively free of neo-conservatives except for John Bolton, the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, who is a member of the AEI, close to Israel and the US right.
According to press reports, Bolton was imposed on the department against the wishes of Powell.
Even political opponents admit the neo-conservatives have mounted a skilful and successful campaign to get their message heard in the corridors of power.
ThirdWorldTraveler.com, a website that claims to offer "an alternative view to the corporate media about the state of democracy in America," concedes that over the past two decades, the conservative thinktanks "have mounted an impressively coherent and concerted effort" to shape the political direction in Washington - Sapa-AFP
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