Governments worldwide have intensified their efforts to institutionalize policy evaluation. Still, also in organizations with high evaluation maturity, the use of evaluations is not self-evident.... Show moreGovernments worldwide have intensified their efforts to institutionalize policy evaluation. Still, also in organizations with high evaluation maturity, the use of evaluations is not self-evident. As mature organizations already meet many of the factors that are commonly seen to foster evaluation use, they constitute an interesting research setting to identify (combinations of) factors that can make a key difference in minimizing research waste. In this article, we present an analysis of the use of evaluations conducted between 2013 and 2016 by the Policy and Operations Evaluation Department (IOB) of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a typical case of relatively high evaluation maturity. Methodologically, we rely on Qualitative Comparative Analysis as an approach that is excellently suited to capture the causal complexity characterizing evaluation use. The analysis provides useful insights on the link between knowledge production and use. We highlight the relevance of engaging policy makers in developing the evaluation design, and fine-tune available evidence as to what is perceived a good timing to organize evaluations. Contrary to existing research, we show that the political salience of an evaluation does not matter much. Show less
Policy evaluations can be set up for multiple purposes including accountability, policy learning and policy planning. The question is, however, how these purposes square with politics itself. To... Show morePolicy evaluations can be set up for multiple purposes including accountability, policy learning and policy planning. The question is, however, how these purposes square with politics itself. To date, there is little knowledge on how government ministers present the rationale of evaluations. This article is the first to provide a diachronic study of discourse about evaluation purposes and encompass a wide range of policy fields. We present an analysis of evaluation announcements in so-called ministerial policy notes issued between 1999 and 2019 by the Flemish government in Belgium. The research fine-tunes available evidence on catalysts for conducting evaluations. The Flemish public sector turns out to be a strong case where New Public Management brought policy evaluation onto the agenda, but this has not resulted in a prominent focus on accountability-oriented evaluations. We further show that policy fields display different evaluation cultures, albeit more in terms of the volume of evaluation demand than in terms of preferences for particular evaluation purposes. Show less
Desmedt, E.; Pattyn, Valerie; Van Humbeeck, P. 2016
The objective of the article is to identify the conditions that best explain organizational variance in policy evaluation regularity. Relying on the innovative Most Similar Different Outcome/Most... Show moreThe objective of the article is to identify the conditions that best explain organizational variance in policy evaluation regularity. Relying on the innovative Most Similar Different Outcome/Most Different Similar Outcome technique, we examine the explanatory ability of a range of organizational attributes applied to eighteen Flemish public sector organizations (Belgium). The conditions that relate to the source of evaluation demand, in its broadest sense, are of key importance. We refer to the role of the sector minister and other organizations in demanding evaluations, as well as to the media and parliamentary attention and the influence of EU evaluation clauses. Show less
Checklists for evaluation capacity builders include a wide range of building blocks for supporting evaluation activity. Yet, the relative importance of each building block is not clear. The purpose... Show moreChecklists for evaluation capacity builders include a wide range of building blocks for supporting evaluation activity. Yet, the relative importance of each building block is not clear. The purpose of this article is to identify the capacity related factors that are necessary, but not necessarily sufficient, for organisations that wish to institutionalise high quality policy evaluations. To retrieve these factors, we rely on the necessity function in qualitative comparative analysis. We present a study of twenty-seven organisations of the Flemish public sector (Belgium), in which the introduction of policy evaluations is relatively recent. Our case analysis thus sheds an interesting light upon how policy evaluation, and the underlying capacity to evaluate is given shape. Our findings point at evaluation demand as the most necessary prerequisite for fostering evaluation activity, more so than supply related factors. Show less
While terrorism is one of the most prominent security threats in the Western world, there is surprisingly little research that adresses the effectiveness of the instruments that are used to fight... Show moreWhile terrorism is one of the most prominent security threats in the Western world, there is surprisingly little research that adresses the effectiveness of the instruments that are used to fight it. In this doctoral dissertation national and international security expert Teun van Dongen will fill this gap by demonstrating that there is a link between the nature of a terrorist threat and the effects of the measures that are applied against it. He will outline a new way to measure coun-terterrorism effectiveness and will apply it to the counterterrorist cam_paigns against the Provisional IRA, ETA, the Weather Underground, the RAF and the jihadist movements in the UK and the Netherlands. The results show that the effect of counterterrorism measures depends to a considerable degree on the way terrorist organisations or movements are organised and on the way they interact with the population Show less
In this dissertation the necessity and benefits of developing integrated policy approaches to the energy systems in general, and power systems in particular were assessed. The research work covers... Show moreIn this dissertation the necessity and benefits of developing integrated policy approaches to the energy systems in general, and power systems in particular were assessed. The research work covers not only the integration of energy and environment policy objectives, but also the integration of different policy instruments along the power system. A two part methodology was developed: 1) a framework to map and qualitatively assess the most relevant interactions between the energy and environment policy instruments currently in place, and 2) a complementary methodology to quantify the effects of the most relevant interactions using an optimisation bottom-up energy system model (TIMES model). It is concluded that there are relevant interactions between current energy and environment policies instruments along the power system. These are named co-effects and can be either synergetic or antagonistic. It was found that antagonistic co-effects affect effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the policy instruments and can represent a significant cost for the overall energy system. For the case-study of Portugal used in this dissertation, antagonistic interactions between policies were estimated to representing roughly up to 2% of the 2010 Portuguese GDP Show less
