Evaluating public policies to improve public action: an international perspective.

Summary The theme of the seventh "Rencontres internationales de la gestion publique", organized in June 2008 by the Institute for Public Management and Economic Development in partnership with the OECD, was "Evaluating public policies to improve public action". In France, the evaluation of public policies is part of a new trend. Article 47-2 of the Constitution makes it mandatory. However, the attempts at evaluation made since 1989 have given a negative image: heavy and abstruse studies, hardly leading to decisions, work bogged down in plethoric committees... How then can we take up the challenge of the Constitution while not reproducing the real or supposed errors of the past? The international experience can be a source of inspiration, in particular by making it possible to find a middle way between rapid audits and evaluation or by inviting the strengthening of the work between evaluators, administrations and civil society. The confrontation of different points of view and plural expertise allows public action to lead to better results. France has the LOLF and the RGPP: how can we build on these foundations by drawing on the experience of countries that also practice program-based management? This book draws a picture of the concrete concerns that various countries have in developing evaluation: the United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Italy, France, and the Netherlands. The multiple questions of methods, strategies, and the relationships between actors are addressed here. This book is intended for those who are interested in evaluation but also in social issues, particularly those related to the organization of public debates in the context of the implementation of public policies.