POLICY ANALYSIS AS A PROFESSION
Until the 1980s few of those actually doing policy analysis would have identified themselves as members of the policy analysis profession; even fewer were filling positions labeled "policy analyst." Many who do policy analysis held, and continue to hold, positions as economists, planners, program evaluators, budget analysts, operations researchers, and statisticians. In recent years, however, the policy analysis profession has emerged as an established profession. Positions labeled policy analyst are now more common in government agencies, and often these positions are filled by people who have been trained in graduate programs in policy analysis. Many practicing analysts trained in a variety of disciplines have joined with academics to form a professional organization, the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. I3 even he less, the profession is still young and those who consider themselves members represent only a fraction of those actually practicing the craft of policy analysis.