The Origins of the Joint University Council and the Background to Public Policy and Administration

This article is the result of research into public records in The National Archives; the Royal Institute of Public Administration archives in the University of Birmingham; the Joint University Council archives in the University of Warwick; and (with the kind assistance of Adrian Allan, Archivist, University of Liverpool) the papers of Professor Lord Simey of Toxteth. Its main purpose is to contribute to the history of the applied social sciences through tracing the background and development of Public Policy and Administration. Constraints of length and problems associated with the largely uncatalogued archives of the Joint University Council and the incomplete records of the Royal Institute of Public Administration prevent a full and comprehensive history of the topics covered, so it has to be selective (hence ‘an interpretation’), and the intention therefore has been to focus on the prehistory and history of influences contributing to the development of the Joint University Council, its Public Administration Committee and, especially, the journal Public Policy and Administration.