Proposal for a National Policy Assessment and Action Program Available to Purchase

This article is concerned with four major propositions: 1) The next major thrust in long‐range planning will come in the public sector, and is a thrust long overdue. 2) Over the past two decades we have significantly improved corporate planning in the private sector. We still have much to learn, but compared with the early efforts we are now high on the learning curve. 3) The fundamental lessons we have learned in the private sector in doing comprehensive long‐range planning are applicable to the introduction, development, and success of aggregate integrated long‐range planning in the public sector. 4) It is imperative that a dialogue begin immediately between practitioners of long‐range planning in the private sector and those in the public sector who are directly involved in the development of this process. Both groups have much to learn from each other, but it is particularly important that those in the public sector be exposed to the first‐hand experience of those in the private sector.