The Politics of Evaluation Reconsidered

Abstract

Recent experience suggests that the effect of political considerations on the incidence of evaluation is not constant across programs. The article attempts to refine the politics of evaluation theory by identifying affective variables when political considerations are more likely to inhibit the conduct of evaluation. Evaluation activity for 63 programs was measured over the course of an 11-year period. Two important refinements emerge: (1) contrary to the theory, program directors demonstrate a sincere interest in the conduct of evaluations. At the same time, interest in program evaluation from senior management, ministers and members of parliament is almost non-existent. (2) Within the context of internally focused evaluations, not all program directors avoid evaluation. Some agencies have, mainly because of professional staff backgrounds and resource availability, a higher proclivity to conduct evaluation. Within agencies, there is a tendency to focus evaluation efforts on large and direct provision programs.