Politicians in Search of Performance Information?‐ Survey Research on Dutch Aldermen's Use of Performance Information

Based on survey research, a picture is given of the sources which were used by 262 aldermen of Dutch municipalities to obtain information about developments in and performances of their organizations and aldermen's opinions on the available performance information in output‐oriented planning and control documents. The aldermen, who were elected politicians, made much use of information which they obtained during verbal consultations with professional managers. Performance information in planning and control documents was not greatly used by aldermen. Their opinions on available performance information in planning and control documents and its use slightly differed, depending on the policy fields for which they are responsible. This might be related to differences between policy fields with respect to uncertainty, measurability of outputs, and knowledge of transformation processes, although this relationship is not unambiguous.