The Public Affairs Council (PAC) is an American

professional association A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) usually seeks to advocacy, further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that professio ...

for people working in

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

and

policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organ ...

founded in 1954 by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

. Its mission is to advance the field of public affairs and provide resources to public affairs

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dire ...

s and

managers Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

to help them achieve their business and professional goals. Based in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, PAC counts over 600

corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

s, associations and

consulting A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

firm A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

s as members.

History

The Public Affairs Council was launched in 1954 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, when he convened a meeting of business executives to suggest the creation of a national organization to make business people from both parties active participants in the political process. First incorporated as the Effective Citizens Organization (ECO), the ECO relocated to Washington, DC from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1962 and changed its name to the Public Affairs Council in 1965. In the 1950s, the concept of corporate public affairs was only beginning to come into vogue, and at the time meant mostly legislature watching and corporate community involvement. Today, the definition of "public affairs" is much broader, encompassing political involvement,

lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agency, regulatory agencie ...

(government relations), political action committees, corporate community involvement, issues management, grassroots advocacy, and

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

. This broadening of the field of public affairs and an increased understanding of the importance of political involvement has been demonstrated in the growth of formal corporate and association public affairs programs. In the 1950s, only a handful of

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

had formal programs, today, thousands of companies and associations have them. Since its founding, the expansion of the Public Affairs Council and its operations has mirrored the growth of the public affairs profession. In the beginning, the Council offered only a few limited services and a monthly newsletter, but today, the Public Affairs Council offers a comprehensive program of public affairs and

government relations In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

services, several monthly and annual

publications To publish is to make content available to the general public.Berne Conve ...

, and dozens of annual

conferences A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main pu ...

Consulting services

Through the Consulting Services division, the Council advances the field of Public Affairs by collecting and analyzing data, assessing best practices, and providing professional assistance to member organizations in areas of strategic planning and management, organizational structure, performance measurement and evaluation. The Consulting Services division carries out its mission through a mix of products and services available only to members of the Public Affairs Council, including individual consultation and technical assistance, applied research and consulting, books and publications, conferences and seminars.

Publications

Beginning in 1958, the ECO launched its first newsletter, ''Echo''. In 1974, the Public Affairs Council renamed the newsletter ''Impact'', which is the name that it retains to this day. In addition to this monthly newsletter, the Council, in conjunction with the Foundation for Public Affairs, produces numerous publications annually, including handbooks for public affairs professionals, benchmarking studies, and the Public Affairs Management Report series.

Conferences

In 1964 the ECO offered its first series of conferences and roundtables, including the first Public Affairs Training Seminar (PATS). As the interrelationship between business and government became more complex, these conferences provided public affairs professionals with their first opportunities for learning about groundbreaking approaches to public affairs that were being developed. The Public Affairs Council now holds more tha
100 conferences
and workshops annually, including the largest national conferences on corporate and association

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

, political action committees and corporate philanthropy.

Governance

The Public Affairs Council is governed by a volunteer

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

composed of industry leaders. The Council's Executive Committee, which provides the day-to-day governance of programs and activities, is made up of 15 executives who have demonstrated support for the Council as Members of the Board or Directors.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Professional associations based in the United States United States political action committees