Hugh Heclo

Hugh Heclo (born 1943) is a Clarence J. Robinson Professor of Public Affairs at George Mason University, in the United States. He was previously a professor of government at Harvard University and George Washington University in the 1980s. He also operates Ashcroft Farms, a Christmas tree farm outside Winchester, Virginia.

Heclo is perhaps best known as an expert on the development of modern welfare states. In 1978, he invented the concept of an issue network, used to describe loose alliances between interest groups, organizations, and economic actors that attempt to influence policy development.

Issue Crawler, a server-side software that locates public debate on the Web, is based on the issue network concept.

In 2002, Heclo was awarded the American Political Science Association's John Gaus Award lifetime achievement award honoring exemplary scholarship in the joint tradition of political science and public administration.

External links

• http://provost.gmu.edu/index.php