CHAPTER 8: Evaluation, Knill& Tosun
= Policy evaluation generate information in order to compare the intended and
actual effects of public policies and can refer to insights regarding policy
outcomes and/or impacts.
= ‘ a retrospective process (a process of looking in the past) of public sector
interventions, their organization , content , implementation and outputs or
outcomes which is intended to play a role in future practical situations.’ ,
Vedung’s definition
TYPES OF EVALUATON:
1. Administrative
Carried out within government bodies and examines the delivery of
public policy and government services. Its main objective to ensure that
public policies attain their goal at the least possible cost and least burden
on target group.
o Performed by specialized agencies; financial, legal, political or
private consultants (government agencies evaluate government)
Also: compliance private corporations with legislation
o Process evaluation: making operations more efficient
o Effort evaluation: assess the amount of government effort into
attaining the policy objectives
o Efficiency evaluation: policy’s costs and the ways of
accomplishing the same goals at lower costs.
o Effectiveness evaluation: compares the intended goals with the
ones achieved
ex post: after the event assessment VS ex ante: to asses before the event the
impact of proposed regulatory policies, not exactly an evaluation but a design
process from researchers, consultants etc
2. Judicial:
Related with legal issues concerning the development and
implementation Of policies. Either initiated by the judiciary or by
individual complaints
o Judicial evaluation can declare a policy unconstitutional
o Private actors can challenge the activities of public ones
3. Political:
, Based on unsystematic and technically not sophisticated methods of
gathering and interpreting information about public policies.
a tool for framing public policy in a negative or positive way, related
to aspects of party competition.
o Affiliations between parliament and interest groups influence requests
for policy evaluation. Parliamentarians with interest group connections
are more likely to request evaluation
4. Scientific: (part of evaluation research= to discuss methodological issues
related to the assessment of policy success, the establishment of causality
and techniques of analysis )
Provides neutral answers to whether a policy is effective or not.
a. Formative: to improve a policy measure by providing advice to
implementing actors-before starting the program
b. Summative: at the end of policy implementation to assess whether
the goal has been attained
o Carried out only by experts-a certain time length is needed-
5. Economic: (not)
Identification, measurement, evaluation and comparison of costs and
beneifts, focusing on the efficiency of a policy.
a. Cost-benefit analysis: weighing the total costs vs benefits in monetary
terms
b. Cost-effectiveness: weighing the costs of services inappropriate to
monetize effects eg health services
c. Cost utility: looking at whether an action should be undertaken
reffered to a specific case relating to health care and life expectancy
6. Performance: (not)
Take account either effectiveness or efficiency evaluations
o Actors are expected to be accountable for achieving intended goals
o The use of organizational resources relative to a predefined goal by
ongoing monitoring and reporting of policy accomplishments
has become a mainstream tool of administrative evaluation.
Triggers evaluation
1. Prescribed by law or planning cycle; to show whether something is working
2. By political situations, new elections to show that you have achieved
positive results
3. Incidents eg ‘katrina typhon and the inaction of government’ or actors that
call for investigation, natural disasters
= Policy evaluation generate information in order to compare the intended and
actual effects of public policies and can refer to insights regarding policy
outcomes and/or impacts.
= ‘ a retrospective process (a process of looking in the past) of public sector
interventions, their organization , content , implementation and outputs or
outcomes which is intended to play a role in future practical situations.’ ,
Vedung’s definition
TYPES OF EVALUATON:
1. Administrative
Carried out within government bodies and examines the delivery of
public policy and government services. Its main objective to ensure that
public policies attain their goal at the least possible cost and least burden
on target group.
o Performed by specialized agencies; financial, legal, political or
private consultants (government agencies evaluate government)
Also: compliance private corporations with legislation
o Process evaluation: making operations more efficient
o Effort evaluation: assess the amount of government effort into
attaining the policy objectives
o Efficiency evaluation: policy’s costs and the ways of
accomplishing the same goals at lower costs.
o Effectiveness evaluation: compares the intended goals with the
ones achieved
ex post: after the event assessment VS ex ante: to asses before the event the
impact of proposed regulatory policies, not exactly an evaluation but a design
process from researchers, consultants etc
2. Judicial:
Related with legal issues concerning the development and
implementation Of policies. Either initiated by the judiciary or by
individual complaints
o Judicial evaluation can declare a policy unconstitutional
o Private actors can challenge the activities of public ones
3. Political:
, Based on unsystematic and technically not sophisticated methods of
gathering and interpreting information about public policies.
a tool for framing public policy in a negative or positive way, related
to aspects of party competition.
o Affiliations between parliament and interest groups influence requests
for policy evaluation. Parliamentarians with interest group connections
are more likely to request evaluation
4. Scientific: (part of evaluation research= to discuss methodological issues
related to the assessment of policy success, the establishment of causality
and techniques of analysis )
Provides neutral answers to whether a policy is effective or not.
a. Formative: to improve a policy measure by providing advice to
implementing actors-before starting the program
b. Summative: at the end of policy implementation to assess whether
the goal has been attained
o Carried out only by experts-a certain time length is needed-
5. Economic: (not)
Identification, measurement, evaluation and comparison of costs and
beneifts, focusing on the efficiency of a policy.
a. Cost-benefit analysis: weighing the total costs vs benefits in monetary
terms
b. Cost-effectiveness: weighing the costs of services inappropriate to
monetize effects eg health services
c. Cost utility: looking at whether an action should be undertaken
reffered to a specific case relating to health care and life expectancy
6. Performance: (not)
Take account either effectiveness or efficiency evaluations
o Actors are expected to be accountable for achieving intended goals
o The use of organizational resources relative to a predefined goal by
ongoing monitoring and reporting of policy accomplishments
has become a mainstream tool of administrative evaluation.
Triggers evaluation
1. Prescribed by law or planning cycle; to show whether something is working
2. By political situations, new elections to show that you have achieved
positive results
3. Incidents eg ‘katrina typhon and the inaction of government’ or actors that
call for investigation, natural disasters
