Open to the Public: Evaluation in the Public Arena

Richard Boyle · Jonathan D. Breul · Peter Dahler-Larsen

dhj 2011 · Comparative Policy Evaluation Libri 1 · Transaction Publishers

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Open to the Public grows out of concern with evaluation in the public arena and the struggle to understand how best to use the information it generates. Many concepts and models of evaluation, how to undertake it, and how to make it more useful, were developed before government performance became of so much interest to the public. In fact, it is arguable that recent changes in the forms, shapes, structures, and media through which the information developed in the process of evaluation becomes public, require new ways of thinking about its role in society. What is the role of evaluative information in the public arena today? How, when, and under what circumstances does the actual use of evaluative information take place, and what are the forces at play? By compiling and comparing international case studies, this book considers forces that make the information produced in evaluations increasing "open to the public." They provide insights into the many factors that influence evaluation and its use in the public arena. Their case studies include such current topics as: "spin doctoring" of information by the media and this practice's relationship to evaluation studies, the hotly debated issue of school performance, and information about it aired in the public arena, and the controversial link between budget processing and government performance. This book will be invaluable to those conducting evaluations, public employees and commissioners, and those studying public administration.

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"Richard Boyle" is a senior research officer with the Institute of Public Administration in Ireland. He was a member of the Board of the European Evaluation Society from 2002 to 2005 and is chair of the Irish Evaluation Network. Jonathan D. Breul is a Partner, IBM Global Business Services and a Senior Fellow, IBM Center for The Business of Government. He is also a Fellow and Member of the Board of Trustees of the National Academy of Public Administration and an adjunct Professor at Georgetown University's Graduate Public Policy Institute. Peter Dahler-Larsen is professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen. He was president of the European Evaluation Society from 2006-7. His research interests include political, institutional and cultural aspects of evaluation. He is the author of The Evaluation Society (Stanford University Press 2012).