The Role of Evaluation in Strengthening Democracy

Scholars have positioned evaluation as central to democratic life, linking it to accountability, transparency, and collective learning (Scriven, 1967; House, 1980; Greene & Mark, 2017), but this scholarship assumes a stable democratic order rather than questioning it. Drawing on research on democratic turnarounds and Slater's (2013) concept of “democratic careening,” this paper argues that evaluations not only support democratic governance but also actively help stabilize it, especially when democratic norms weaken, and credible evidence becomes contested. Using the Foundations for Evidence‐Based Policymaking Act as an example, the paper examines how evaluation systems function amid institutional fragility and explores strategies to preserve evaluative independence and protect evidence as a public good.