Evaluation and the Policy-Making Process

This article discusses the evaluation and policy-making process, including the different models of policy-making and the importance of stakeholder engagement. It also explores the concept of evidence-based policy and how it can lead to better decision-making. The article provides insights into the role of politics in policy evaluation and the use of research in policymaking.

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EVALUATION AND THE POLICY-MAKING PROCESS
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Question 1
Public policy refers to the plans, funding priorities, causes of actions, laws and regulatory
measures on a given topic. The policy is implemented and formulated for the benefit of the
general public. There are various models that tend to assist in the understanding of the
characteristics f the social phenomenon in question. A policy model can also be described as a
plan by the government, a business or a political party to determine and influence the decisions
to be made (Birkland, 2015). The models simply address how policy is made. The two most
common models are; the rational model and the incremental model.
The rational model prescribes the procedures for decision making which ensures that the best
choice is made aiming to achieve the most efficient policy goals. The model is prescriptive I that
it ascertains that if the decision makers do something, the will definitely finish with the most
efficient goal as aimed (Gerston, 2014). In the rational model, the needs are first assessed after
which the objectives are set and the planning process begins. With the plan in hand, the inputs
are then put in place for the program process and the estimated outputs are achieved. Finally, the
outcome is assessed. For the rational model, the evaluation is done by comparing the objectives
set with the put comes achieved.
Unlike the rational model, the incremental model is not linear. In other words, there is a
possibility of changes in the policy even after it is set. The change may take place at any stage of
the policy-making process even after evaluation hence the name incremental. The decisions
made take place mostly between the strategic analysis phase whereby the informed and
thoughtful choice of intervention is based on analysis and the phase whereby analysis is not
complete. In this model, the policies are limited to a small number of alternatives. Contrary to

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the rational model, the policy processes are not about maximizing rationality but rather the
processes are about securing agreement.
Evidence makes a better policy. This statement is supported by the fact that exposing a policy-
making process to a wide range of concepts and experiences ensures the best decision is made.
The two policies models require research in the policy process. The process entails identifying
the underlying problem, formulating the policy, implementing the best alternative and finally
making an evaluation. During the policy-making process, research is conducted on the problem,
the most viable and available solution and the outcome (Holmes, and Clark, 2008). Evaluation
research is needed when analyzing the achieved output and comparing them with the objectives.
Since has aided in the social problem solving during the policy process. It has been used to
assess the social demands, asses the required input, make the decisions and initiate the process
and finally asses the outputs achieved. The policy makers aim at serving the society. Therefore
they will formulate the best alternatives and implement them. In other words, the policy process
aims at the best interest of society.
However, there is certain criticism on the use of science to solve problems in society. First,
decisions made to favour the majority oppress the minority. Decisions made do not always
favour everyone in the society and therefore there is a small group of people that face oppression
after implementation of a decision. Secondly, the magnitude of the social problems tends to be
overwhelming to the policymakers. This makes them unable to solve the prevailing problems.
Question 2
Stakeholders tend to play a major role in the policy and evaluation process. Effective stakeholder
engagement in the policy process and evaluation plays a primary role in development of the

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programs and policies. Due to the evolution in technologies, policy formulation requires a long
list of stakeholders. This ascertains great support and the least possibility of failure in the proper
allocation of resources (Ward, 2015). Some of them act as advocates for policymaking.
In a child protection policy, the stakeholders would include; the partner organizations,
volunteers, interns, children’s families, the children trustees, senior management and the staff
working with children directly and indirectly. In addition, the government and the political
parties are stakeholders to the child protection policy. All these people affect or are affected by
the policy in one way or the other. Therefore it would be practical to involve them in the policy-
making and the evaluation process (Hill, 2014).
As discussed earlier, stakeholder involvement in policy and evaluation process is very
paramount. The policymakers have to ensure that the stakeholders are fully involved in the
process. Since the policy-making process is a cyclical model, all the stages require different
involvement of different stakeholders (Dann, Neumann, and Peters, 2014). For the child
protection policy, at the need identification stage, the policymakers would directly involve the
children by conducting interviews with the children and their families on the challenges facing
children and how they would like the situation to change. The volunteers, interns and other staff
members would be used in the assessment of the available alternatives to solve the problem at
hand. The senior management is would assist the policymakers in selecting the best decisions
and implementation of the actions to be taken. In addition, the partner organizations will help in
the allocation of resources as required. Finally, staff members would be useful in the assessment
of the output and if it aligns with the set objectives.
As the saying goes, two minds are better than one, stakeholders play a vital role in the policy-
making process. Having the stakeholders participate in decision making means a common

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understanding of the problem and the decision-making process. The major benefits of including
the stakeholder in the policy-making include; there is transparency in the actions taken for a
given policy, it also ensures that the stakeholders are accountable for the decisions made and
finally ensures that the voices of the stakeholders are heard and the policy is made in their best
interest. Furthermore, when the policymaker understands the interests and views of the
stakeholders, he/she is able to make a more effective decision. This entails getting the issues and
the concerns right and implementing the most favourable solution (Andriof, and Waddock, 2017)
Question 3
Policy making can be described as a political process. The main stakeholders are the politicians
and political parties. During the process, there is a council of ministers who make the decisions
on the policy after serious scrutiny of the problem and the research on how to solve the problem.
The politicians influence the policymakers by persuading their colleagues to vote for a policy
they recommended (Maddison, and Denniss, 2013). The policy practitioners use the research
presented to them to formulate a given policy. They make an analysis of the relationship between
the problems addressed and the information provided to make the right decision.
A good question regarding the policy practitioners and researchers would be, are the policy
practitioners in a position to absorb the research findings? Another question would be are the
practitioners are able and willing to use the research made? In some cases, the researchers make
their own conclusion in a way that the Practitioners are not able to decode the research is done
(McCallum, and Waller, 2017). The interest between the two teams may differ in that the policy
practitioners may not trust the information given by the researchers. In another view, the interest
of policy practitioners is in odds with the interest of researchers in that they have different career

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paths. The two groups have to work in collaboration with each other to ensure that the outcome
is favourable to the society at large (Mamouney, and Coffey, 2015).
Politics play a big role in the policy evaluation process. In a nutshell, the political view of
decisions to be made is that what matters is what works. An evaluation simply judges how much
work an idea is. The government influences the evaluation by ensuring the policy makers feel
that more is wanted from them. The researchers are expected to come up with ideas and be
willing to invest in them. The use of this research and ideas in the evaluation process ensures that
there is a better focus on policies in an attempt to deliver long term goals (Vedung, 2017).
Evidence-based policy involves using social science research methods to get a shred of empirical
evidence about how a policy works. In other words, it’s a policy that helps people make better
decisions about the policies, programs or projects by using the best evidence from the researches
conducted on a given topic (Cook, and Odom, 2013). One of the most obvious ways to ensure
the policy is an evidence-based is the use of evidence in policymaking. Another idea is to choose
the best research by making comparisons between the viable options. Something else is to carry
out experiments on the evidence before implementing it. An evaluation also makes policy
evidence based. After the implementation of the decisions, good analysis of how well the
decisions solve the underlying problem makes the policy evident based.

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References
Andriof, J. and Waddock, S., 2017. Unfolding stakeholder engagement. In Unfolding
stakeholder thinking (pp. 19-42). Routledge.
Birkland, T.A., 2015. An introduction to the policy process: Theories, concepts, and models of
public policy making. Routledge.
Cook, B.G. and Odom, S.L., 2013. Evidence-based practices and implementation science in
special education. Exceptional children, 79(2), pp.135-144.
Dann, C., Neumann, G. and Peters, J., 2014. Policy evaluation with temporal differences: A
survey and comparison. The Journal of Machine Learning Research, 15(1), pp.809-883.
Gerston, L.N., 2014. Public policy making: Process and principles. Routledge.
Holmes, J. and Clark, R., 2008. Enhancing the use of science in environmental policy-making
and regulation. Environmental Science & Policy, 11(8), pp.702-711.
Hill, M., 2014. Policy process: A reader. Routledge.
Mamouney, L. and Coffey, B., 2015. Research methods in Australian policy research: a critical
analysis. In The Australian Political Studies Association Annual Conference: Refereed
Papers (pp. 1-21). Australian Political Science Association.
Maddison, S. and Denniss, R., 2013. An introduction to Australian public policy: theory and
practice. Cambridge University Press.

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McCallum, K. and Waller, L., 2017. The dimensions of mediatized policy-making in Australian
Indigenous affairs.
Vedung, E., 2017. Public policy and program evaluation. Routledge.Ward, I., 2015. Media
influence on public policy. Policy analysis in Australia, pp.183-199.
Ward, I., 2015. Media influence on public policy. Policy analysis in Australia, pp.183-199.