The Interface between Evaluation and Public Policy

Abstract

Evaluation has much to offer to policy makers, but policy makers rarely base new policies directly on evaluation results. Partly this is because of the compedting pressures of interests, ideologies, other information and institutional constraints. Partly it is because many policies take shape over time through the actions of many officials in many offices, each of which does its job without conscious reflection. Despite the seeming neglect of evaluation, scholars in many countries have found that evaluation has real consequences: it challenges old ideas, provides new perspectives and helps to re-order the policy agenda. This kind of 'enlightenment' is difficult to see, and it works best when it receives support from policy champions. Many channels bring evaluation results to the attention of policy makers, and they listen not only because they want direction but also to justify policies, to show their knowledge and modernity, and as a counterweight to other information. Openness of the political system and a thriving evaluation community tend to make some nations more attuned to evaluation-than others.

Articulação política na avaliação da inclusão financeira promovida pelo Banco Central do Brasil

“…Mas o processo é político também, porque a administração pública não é uma ilha técnico-burocrática isolada dos aspectos políticos (FARAH, 2011;PACHECO, 2011;WEISS, 1999;KINGDON, 1995b;SABATIER, 1991;REIS, 1989;LINDBLOM, 1981), em que pesem as tentativas de insulamento burocrático (NUNES, 2003). Daí a necessidade da articulação política, também para superar as dificuldades inerentes à viabilização da avaliação.…”

“…São dirigidos pela lógica dos fatos políticos, necessitando resolver problemas sob pressão, e com agenda apertada. Weiss (1999), analisando a interface entre a avaliação e a tomada de decisão no âmbito das políticas públicas, também enfatiza a importância dos propósitos políticos da avaliação. Para essa autora, as expectativas dos avaliadores em relação ao uso da avaliação sempre tiveram um matiz racional, o que frequentemente acarreta desapontamento, quando percebem "que os elaboradores de políticas muitas vezes parecem ignorar os resultados da avaliação, encampando políticas que já haviam escolhido por outras razões" (WEISS, 1999, p. 470).…”

“…Conforme ponderou a gerente do projeto, será preciso contar com um forte apoio interno, convencer pessoas, lidar com interesses conflitantes, negociar. Em suma, será preciso aliar à capacidade técnica a capacidade de articulação política (FARAH, 2011;O'TOOLE JUNIOR, 2010;WEISS, 1999;REIS, 1989).…”

Cynical or Deliberative? An Analysis of the European Commission’s Public Communication on Its Use of Expertise in Policy-Making

“…Building on literature examining knowledge utilization in public policy-making (Weiss, 1979(Weiss, , 1986(Weiss, , 1999, EU scholars have developed different ingrained conceptualizations of the Commission's uses of expertise, but discussions have tended to circulate around three main functions: the instrumental, the substantiating and the symbolic (Boswell, 2008a;Radaelli, 2009;Rimkute & Haverland, 2014;Schrefler, 2010).…”

The evaluator's role in valuing: Who and with whom

“…Namely, that valuing is not just the prerogative of the evaluator. Rather than leaving the valuing act to the evaluator, some writers (e.g., Fetterman & Wandersman, 2005;Stake, 2012;Weiss, 1999) argue for the involvement of others in the valuing process and that there are many different ways in which others might be involved in the valuing process. With this being the case, we consider the ways in which valuing might take place.…”