The Management of Advisory Committees: An Assignment for the '70's

Public interest in and use of advisory committees* continues to grow apace. One finds them at all levels of government: federal, state, and local, performing the most startling variety of tasks: in school systems, universities, hospitals, and churches; in research centers, labor unions, and legislatures; as advisors to presidents, publishers, and police departments; and, most recently of all, in private industry. There are advisory committees which adviseand those which never meet and probably do nothing at all. There are those which make decisions, those which give support, those which hear appeals, and those which administer. There are even advisory committees to advisory committees. Surely they must have something important to offer to deserve such popularity. And they have.