policy evaluation

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

the systematic assessment of the design, implementation, and outcomes of a government policy or programme using social scientific methods to determine whether it achieved its stated objectives, whether it produced unintended consequences, whether it represented good value for public expenditure, and what lessons can be drawn for future policy design; evaluation approaches range from formative evaluation conducted during implementation to inform ongoing improvement, to summative evaluation assessing final outcomes, to economic evaluation comparing costs and benefits; rigorous policy evaluation requires clear specification of counterfactual baselines, selection of appropriate comparison groups, and honest treatment of attribution problems arising from the multiple simultaneous factors that influence social outcomes