The Interface between Evaluation and Public Policy

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.