Policy mix and the quality of information

An account is presented of the proliferation of policy research centers in the US since WWII, their expanded role in US society, their different forms & characteristics, & their impact on decision making in the US. Policy research, interpreted as both a social movement & an industry, at present receives $100+ billion from the federal government each year for studies in both foreign & domestic policy. Its industrial beginnings are traced to the establishment of the RAND Corp after WWII & the federal implementation of RAND recommendations for overseas air bases. RAND's methods were applied to domestic problems in the 1950s & 1960s (eg, the War on Poverty). Policy research centers can be either U-based or separate entities, & can be distinguished by their internal modes of control into bureaucratic, semibureaucratic, semicollegial, & collegial (Lehman, Edward W. & Waters, Anita M., "Control in Policy Research Institutes: Some Correlates," Policy Analysis, 1979, 5, 201-221). Lehman & Waters, investigating the impact of 33 institutes through questionnaires & other measures, found that although most had some impact, less than 50% had significant impact, & only two had exceptional impact on policy. D. Dunseath.