"Disorderly Progress on the Frontiers of Policy Evaluation" (original) (raw)
Related papers
2018
Evaluation measures whether a policy functioned as intended, providing a “feedback loop to know what is happening to whom, and at what cost” (Cropf, 2007:273). The evaluative state is a transitional stage wherein many issues that later feature as key elements in reforming institutions are first rehearsed (Neave, 2012:36). Evaluation looks at the results produced by policies to shape decision-making and to “learn from mistakes” (Rutter, 2012: 8) where the validity of policy cannot be taken as definite (Hanberger, 2001:59). This paper identifies generative causation and participant alienation as two key problems that can be overcome by Participant Evaluation (PE) and Realistic Evaluation (RE), and compares the approaches in how they do so.
Theoretical essay on public policy evaluations
2019
From the identification of the current and growing demand for higher quality, efficient and effective public services, the evaluation of public policies becomes increasingly indispensable. This article highlights the importance of this stage of the political cycle regarding the exercise of evaluation as a crucial tool for the improvement and development of the management of public policies, especially those of a multidimensional nature.This research is characterized as a theoretical essay with the purpose of constructing a broad and integrated analysis on public policy assessments based on the published literature, in addition to understanding and proposing reflections on the model currently adopted mainly in relation to actions carried out by multilateral agencies.
Evaluation Strategies and Analysis of the Policy Process
Evaluation, 1996
ABSTRACT This article focuses on the theoretical development of evaluation research from the perspective of public-policy analysis. The discontinuity between the first stage of evaluation research and its more recent stage is assessed by arguing that the main problems in early evaluation research were related to an inadequate conceptualization of the evaluator's role, whilst the recent debate in evaluation research correctly acknowledges the endogeneity of the evaluator to the policy process. Consequently, it seems possible to elaborate upon this by investigating the strategies available to the evaluator as actor. In this respect the literature on the cognitive aspects of politics provides useful hints. Following a discussion of this literature, the authors argue that the choice of evaluation strategies is contingent upon the characteristics of the policy process. Two dimensions of the policy process (i.e. the degree of social conflict and the degree of innovation) are employed in order to present a typology of strategies.
Public Policy and Public Management: an Emphasis on the Evaluation Phase
This article aims to describe the evaluation phase in public policy and how a greater emphasis in this phase can contribute positively to the public management, for this the technical procedures were outlined by the bibliographical research, from a review of the main concepts on the subject matter.As a result, the importance of the evaluation phase in the public policy process can be perceived as a way of guaranteeing greater effectiveness in the results obtained by Public Management. Finally, the paper points out the indispensability of a theoretical deepening that allows future discussions on the theme.
Advancing public policy evaluation: Learning from international experiences
Evaluation Practice, 1995
This volume is a contribution to what I hope to be an emerging literature on the comparative and international analysis of evaluation research and policy making. Another recent more modest contribution to this literature is the 1989 work of Cave, Hanney, Kogan, & Trevett (1989) on performance indicators in higher education. Those authors were particularly interested in the relationship between the development of such indicators and political systems. Unfortunately for those interested in transnational regularities, Cave et al. report that, ". . .the introduction of performance indicators may be adventitious, or may be used in different places to advance quite different ends" (p. 54). In contrast to the focused concern of the Cave et al. publication, that is, higher education, Advancing Public Policy Evaluation is not limited in its policy area. That is, examples include evaluation of the FBI in the USA, research and development and employment and immigration policy in Canada, approaches to homelessness and the elderly in Spain, and national audits in a number of countries. Indeed, this book emerged from what was perhaps the first international conference on policy and program evaluation. The conference was attended by 35 participants from 13 nations, and was held in December 1990 in The Hague. The volume reflects the international composition of the conference. The four editors represent three countries (Canada, The Netherlands, USA), and the authors of the 27 papers represent 12 countries. I was surprised that only two of the 27 papers were coauthored, and that both of these were written by a team (two authors) from the UK, There
The Governance of Public Policy Evaluation Systems: Policy Effectiveness and Accountability
2021
Do different institutional arrangements of public policy evaluation systems produce different results in promoting accountability and government effectiveness? Our study aims at discussing the governance of public policy evaluation systems. For such purpose, the evaluation systems of Canada, Chile, France, Mexico, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States were analyzed using the QCA methodology. Our analysis seeks to evaluate the institutional arrangements for the governance of evaluation systems and the conditions necessary and sufficient for them to promote greater governmental effectiveness and accountability. In conclusion, the process of delegating power to evaluation systems should include the involvement of the Legislative Branch to ensure that they help increase governmental effectiveness and promote accountability.
Abstract On the understanding that many scholarly work exist on the challenges of public policy, the approach to these have been conventional type of outlining such. The authors of this paper chooses to interrogate the challenges of public policy formulation and evaluation using the questions what it is, who is involved, how it is conducted, and when/why. By asking these questions, a number of challenges are identified and this seems to add some knowledge to the understanding of challenges to students Public Policy, Political Science, Social Studies, and the general readership including practitioners in policy issues. This paper further expands public policy to entail even international policy. Keywords: Public Policy, Administration, Policy Analysis, Policy Formulation, Policy Evaluation
Evaluation versus The Efficiency of Public Policies
Optimum. Studia Ekonomiczne
The article discusses the importance of evaluation in shaping effective public policies. Its purpose is to answer the question of whether and in what conditions evaluations can be a tool for improving the efficiency of public policies. The article has a theoretical nature and is based on studies of both domestic and foreign literature. The analysis presented in the paper shows that from a theoretical point of view the evaluation (along with its methodology and analytical tools) can be an effective instrument for improving the efficiency of public policies. In practice, however, this efficiency mainly depends on such factors as: the model of governance or the mentality of public administration representatives.
From New Public Management to New Political Governance: Implications for Evaluation
Public administration scholars have discerned a shift in the federal governance context in Canada, from what was traditionally a strong, nonpartisan public service to a more politicized, even partisan, model of public decision-making with power concentrated in the upper reaches of the political executive. We explore the potential implications of these changes for evaluation in the federal bureaucracy.