The development of the role of higher education associations based in Washington, District of Columbia, from the 1960s to the present, is traced, with attention to events, problems, and issues. Also considered are: reasons for joining voluntary associations; the policy-making arena for higher education and the general principles that guide federal higher education decision making; three political perspectives that have oriented Washington representatives in their thinking about the role of associations in national affairs (i.e., the traditional approach, pragmatic realism, and the activist perspective); and the changing role of the associations as they deal with the shifting national scene. Classification schemes for national associations are also explained, focusing on six big national higher education associations: The American Council on Education, the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities; the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges, and the Association of American Universities. The historical analysis covers the following periods: steps toward a cooperating community in the 1960s; the Nixon-Ford-Carter years of the 1970s; the Reagan Administration in the 1980s; and current and future issues. (SW)