The Future of the Not-for-Profit Corporations

he emergence of the not-for-profit Corp as part of the new 'federalism by contact' is considered one of the most striking features of the postwar gov org of the US. Some of the policy questions at issue re such org's arc clarified to provide a clearer understanding of the origins of the not-for-prolit Corp's, the cliff uses to which the (1('% WC has been put, & the actual vs the imagined failings or achievements. The N of nonprofit nongov'al instit's receiving military prime contracts over ', 10,000 in 1966 is stated to have been 128. Of these, how-e%er, only 20 had contracts over $ 1 million. These org's are connected with the great expansion of federal responsibility for sei'fic 1-c s & the need let specialized technical & policy advice. They vary in mode of origin & in the functions they perform. 4 broad categories are noted: (1) the U affiliated res instit or nat'l laboratory performing some applied res or exp'al task for a mission-oriented federal agency, eg, the Lincoln Laboratory of the Massachusetts Instit of Technology, U Res Assoc, Inc, etc. (2) Systems engineering or technical management Corp's, eg, Aerospace & MITRE. (3) Advisory Corp's which conduct policy studies, eg, RAND, Instit for Defense Analyses, Center for Naval Analysis, etc. (4) Groups which perform ad hoc res tasks, often hardware-oriented, eg, Battelle Memorial Instit, Armour Res Foundation, System Development Corp, etc. Each category is discussed in detail. It is assumed that the traditional forms of industr org will not likely be fully supplanted by the not-for-profit instit's in performing res & technical services for the US gov. However, nonprofit status can offer a degree of impartiality & divorce from commercial concerns that is important to the gov. No consistent nat'l policy re these diverse instit's seems possible. The real problems will concern distinguishing the vital from the unnecessary (& possibly harmful) controls over diff types of contractor operation, guarding against conflicts of interest, & developing better criteria for assigning particular res tasks to particular org's. New leadership (both career & pol'al) must be created that can keep a steady & guiding hand on the contract apparatus. Accountable public officials must keep clear central objectives. The federal gov must remain the ool'al center of eravity. M. Maxfield.