Since their emergence in the years following World War II, the then-new fields of systems and (later) policy analysis have evolved and matured, helping make the world more stable, secure, and prosperous by informing and improving decision-making in areas of public policy. In this time systems analysis, which had its origins in technical and then operations systems, expanded its scope to include the broader context within which a system is embedded, and encompass large social systems such as the health care system, the education system, and many more.