Continuous Evaluation of Policies

Evaluation represents a separate stage in the policy cycle, but has to be pointed out as an own need in public administration. Evaluation decides whether a policy will be finished, modified and/or continued. At the same time, it can inform about results and consequences (intended and not intended). Only if policies are evaluated, potential improvement will be identified and at best implemented. In this context, it should be emphasised that a policy is never completed and is always evolving. This makes a qualitative and regular evaluation essential. The relevance of this need could also be validated in the interview with a researcher of administrative science.

Although the circular form of the policy cycle indicates it, evaluation does not only take place after the implementation process. Instead, it should be considered before and after every single step all along the cycle.[1][2]

[1] Jann, W., Wegrich, K. (2007), Theories of the Policy Cycle, in: Fischer F./  Miller, G. J./ Sidney, M. S.(ed.),  Handbook of Public Policy Analysis. Theory, Politics and Methods, Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton, 43-62, DOI: 10.1201/9781420017007.pt2.
[2] Höchtl, J., Parycek, P., Schöllhammer, R. (2016), Big data in the policy cycle: Policy decision making in the digital era, Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce, 26(1-2), 147-169,  https://doi.org/10.1080/10919392.2015.1125187