Five Domains in Policy Evaluation (original) (raw)
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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.
Policy success/policy failure: A framework for understanding policy choices
Administration
Some policies fail to achieve their goals and some succeed. More often than not, it is unclear whether a policy has been a success or a failure, sometimes because the goal was not clear, or because there were a multitude of goals. In this introduction to this special issue we discuss what we mean by policy success and failure, and assume that policy success or failure is ultimately the result of the decision-making process: policy success results from good policies, which tend to come from good decisions, which are in turn the result of a good decision-making process. We then set out a framework for understanding the conditions under which good and bad decisions are made. Built upon factors highlighted in a broad literature, we argue that a potential interaction of institutions, interests and ideology creates incentives for certain outcomes, and leads to certain information being gathered or prioritised when it is being processed. This can bias decision-makers to choose a certain co...
Application of Policy Theory as Applied to Policy Evaluation
The application of policy theory to policy evaluation is an essential step to improving the development and application of regulations to improve the educational facility. “Despite the increasing importance of using the policy process to change and improve education, the field of policy analysis and policymaking is rather new and ill-defined” (Bruce S. Cooper, 2004).
Analysis of Concepts Affecting the Public Policies
Middle East Journal of Applied Science & Technology, 2022
“Public Policy Analysis” involves in the evaluation of issues of public importance with objective of providing facts and statistics about extent and impact of different policies of Government. Nowadays, public policy analysis is undertaken by scholars from different applied physical and biological sciences (e.g. technology assessments, environmental impact studies, seismic risk analyses, etc.). Presently, the focus is on public policy analysis as it is conducted within the social and behavioural sciences, mainly Political Science, Sociology and Economics. Generally, the public policy addresses real or sensed problems, so the public policy analysis is mostly devoted to defining or clarifying the problems and assessing the needs. Main objective of public policy analysis is to assess the degree to which policies are meeting their aims. Policy analysis plays an important role to define and outline the aims of a proposed policy, and also has role to identify the similarities and differences in expected outcomes and estimated costs with competing the alternative policies. Several public policies are formulated to solve both the current and future problems, and so the policy analysis attempts to forecast future requirements based on present concomitant with the past conditions. A large number of works in the field of public policy analysis involves for the development of the conceptual schemes or typologies which help to sort out different types of policies, or analyses of policies. Many literatures on public policy analysis, and especially on impact evaluation are chiefly methodological in character; indeed, many recent innovations in research procedure have been developed by research scholars working on applied problems. Many texts in ‘evaluation research’ recommend an assessment of the ‘evaluability’ of the programme prior to initiate the evaluation itself. ‘Implementation analysis’ is an essential component of all capable policy evaluations. ‘Utilisation’ is an ongoing problem in the field of evaluation research. Evaluation results affect the public policy by serving as the impetus for public discourse and debate which form social policy, rather than through extensive programme termination or reform.
"Disorderly Progress on the Frontiers of Policy Evaluation"
Cantankerous conflicts and debilitating debates characterize the disorderly development of policy evaluation. The clashes over methods, paradigms, and purposes have been so severe that no approach or idea has avoided criticism. This article reviews the turbulent history of evaluation from its multiple roots to its acceptance as an essential tool of contemporary public management. Next, the article examines the war between constructivists and positivists over methodology as well as the puzzling games played in the search for consensus over the purpose(s) of evaluation. The article concludes with a discussion of the future of policy evaluation from the perspective of democratic public management. Several vital issues glossed over by the previous debates are identified. The article ends with an appeal for evaluators to devote less time to methodological and paradigmatic infighting and more time to the solution of these other problems more directly related to theadministration and improvement of public programs.