In collaboration with: Elisabeth Ungar, Felipe Cárdenas, Ángel Saldomando, Joachim Nahem, André-Noël Roth Deubel, Leonardo Díaz Abraham, Joanna Lavinia Félix Arce, Nad’a Zavodnikova, Maria-Alejandra López Salazar, Luis Oswaldo Aristizábal Ceballos, Elodie Escusa

For the successful implementation of public policy which aims to resolve problems and meet the needs of citizens, the principle of evaluation is fundamental. However, it is often the case that when these evaluations are carried out, their methodology and approach do not satisfactorily achieve their object of improving the delivery of these policies because they fail to address their impact. This is the inference and point of departure for this book.

Based on a critical study of experience in evaluation carried out in Latin America, but also in Mongolia and South Africa, the authors ask us to reflect on the relevance and usefulness of evaluation. In addition, they make some recommendations to ensure that evaluation can be a genuine tool in the service of institutional change.

In particular, the book emphasises the need for pluralist evaluation which involves not only those who conceive public policy but also those who benefit from it. It also considers the close relationship between the evaluation exercise and general reflection on governance, including the form of government, the relationship between the government and the governed, or, more broadly, the interaction between the state and society. In other words, evaluation constitutes an integral part of the cycle of governance.