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TOPIC 8: POLICY EVALUATION - Coggle Diagram
TOPIC 8: POLICY EVALUATION
Policy Evaluation
“Involves the estimation, appraisal, or assessment of a policy, its content, implementation, goal attainment, and other effects.”
Types of policy evaluation
Evaluating policy output
Agencies establish to implement new policy
who (or what department/organzation) are involve in a particular policy implemention
what are they doing (their roles and functions) pertaning to a particular policy implementation
Evaluating policy outcome
Result from policy implementation by the agency
Fiscal policy: Tax on cigarates
Number of illness realed to smoking reduced
Number of smokers / number of cigarates smoked reduced
Intended outcome:
Evaluating policy impact
Effect from output & outcome towards society / state
to evaluate the intended and unintended, direct and indirect, positive and negative effects from policy implementation towards society/ state
Impacts are the externalities from the succesfully / unsuccesfully policy implementation – the positive/negative, direct and indirect
Policy evaluation purpose
To access policy
achievement
whether a policy has other effects/not –
intended and unintended:
who gets benefits / bear cost directly and
indirectly
To access policy
consequences
to check the policy effects in general or of
the respective ministries/departments:
whether a policy is successful/failed
to what extend a policy is successful/failed
what factors has contributed towards policy success/failure
To suggest
policy change
to suggest to stop implementing policy
to find out whether the policy is still relevent
To suggest policy termination
to suggest policy recommendation
to find out whether the policy is necessary, valid and efficient etc, hence to improve the planning and implementation of policy process
Policy Evaluation Techniques
One or combination of techniques may be used to evaluate policy outcome, output, impact, process, and success/failure
Cost-Benefit Analysis
a formal, quantitative evaluation technique
Identify and weigh costs against benefits of policy or program
Eg: Cleaner environment program - the costs involve (opportunity cost) and benefits are generated and compared
CBA Process:
Step 1: analyse costs
Step 2: analyse benefits
Step 3: assign monetary values (RM) to the various cost & benefits
Step 4: allocate discount rate to equate present value for future effects
Step 5: compare overall cost and benefits
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Systematic Analysis
Policy is evaluated through scientific research, by the relevant group/agencies that involve directly and indirectly in the implementation process
eg: case study, survey design, experimental design, before and after study
Administrative technique
Evaluating the interrelated process, procedures, rules, resources involved in policy implementation.
Purpose is to ensure efficiency, transparency and accountability in implementation
Eg: ethical issues arise in implementing policy, honesty, integrity, and corruption
Institutional Techniques
Evaluation is done by the various governmental and non-governmental agencies base on their given (accepted) roles/functions
Purpose is to evaluate the behavior of the policy implementors, hence to achieved policy efficiency and effectiveness
Eg: Parliament, Ministries, and Special Committees
Problems of policy evaluation
Objectives
Defining criteria for success
Side effects
Data problems
Accurate and reliable data is required to measure success / failure / consequences of policy
the necessary information / data to assess the impact may be unavailable or available in unsuitable form
There is always a side effects from a policy that would effects the success / failure of other policy
A program/policy under evaluation may be impacted by other programs/policies
Even if objectives are clearly stated, the questions of how the success of the objectives is to be judged or measured would arise
How to judge – what measurement to use - If direct measurement is not practical a more indirect indicators may be used
If objectives are unclear or are not specified in any measurable form , the criteria for policy success are also unclear
When a statement of objectives are clear, specific, and reasonable goals is attained is well stated, there are still a number of problems arise such as the relative importance of goals and objectives
Methodological problems
Political problems
Cost
Distribution of impact
How much is enough
Even if objectives have been specified and priorities among them established, questions remain of what outcomes are seen as relevant to meeting those objectives and what level of achievement in meeting those objectives would make up success
How to effectively measure policy impact distribution
whether it is actually going to the groups intended to benefit most
A policy may not have equal impact to people
It may take as much as 1% of the total program cost especially if sophisticated methods are used (e.g. experiment)
Substantial amount of cost incurred to evaluate policy
Some people are threatened by evaluation
Evaluation may be seen as a threat to:
the continuation of a policy or program in which a number of people have stake
Many methods available to measure policy success / failure; each has its own strengths and weaknesses
A problem or target population which is the target of several programs with the same or related objectives is difficult to be evaluated since evaluators may not know which program produces an effect if any