The Politics of Evaluation in International Organizations

The Politics of Evaluation in International Organizations PDF Author: Vytautas Jankauskas
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192667408
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
Evaluation has become a key tool in assessing the performance of international organizations, in fostering learning, and in demonstrating accountability. Within the United Nations (UN) system, thousands of evaluators and consultants produce hundreds of evaluation reports worth millions of dollars every year. But does evaluation really deliver on its promise of objective evidence and functional use? By unravelling the internal machinery of evaluation systems in international organizations, this book challenges the conventional understanding of evaluation as a value-free activity. Vytautas Jankauskas and Steffen Eckhard show how a seemingly neutral technocratic tool can serve as an instrument for power in global governance; they demonstrate and explain how deeply politics are entrenched in the interests of evaluation stakeholders, in the control and design of IO evaluation systems, and to a lesser extent also in the content of evaluation reports. The analysis draws on 120 research interviews with evaluators, member state representatives, and IO secretariat officials as well as on textual analysis of over 200 evaluation reports. The investigation covers 21 UN system organizations, including detailed case studies of the ILO, IMF, UNDP, UN WOMEN, IOM, UNHCR, FAO, WHO, and UNESCO. Shedding light on the (in-)effectiveness of evidence-based policymaking, the authors propose possible ways of better reconciling the observed evaluation politics with the need to gather reliable evidence that is used to improve the functioning of the United Nations. The answer to evaluation politics is not to abandon evaluation or isolate it from the stakeholders but to acknowledge surrounding political interests and design evaluation systems accordingly.

The Politics of Evaluation in International Organizations

The Politics of Evaluation in International Organizations PDF Author: Vytautas Jankauskas
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192667408
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 241

Get Book

Book Description
Evaluation has become a key tool in assessing the performance of international organizations, in fostering learning, and in demonstrating accountability. Within the United Nations (UN) system, thousands of evaluators and consultants produce hundreds of evaluation reports worth millions of dollars every year. But does evaluation really deliver on its promise of objective evidence and functional use? By unravelling the internal machinery of evaluation systems in international organizations, this book challenges the conventional understanding of evaluation as a value-free activity. Vytautas Jankauskas and Steffen Eckhard show how a seemingly neutral technocratic tool can serve as an instrument for power in global governance; they demonstrate and explain how deeply politics are entrenched in the interests of evaluation stakeholders, in the control and design of IO evaluation systems, and to a lesser extent also in the content of evaluation reports. The analysis draws on 120 research interviews with evaluators, member state representatives, and IO secretariat officials as well as on textual analysis of over 200 evaluation reports. The investigation covers 21 UN system organizations, including detailed case studies of the ILO, IMF, UNDP, UN WOMEN, IOM, UNHCR, FAO, WHO, and UNESCO. Shedding light on the (in-)effectiveness of evidence-based policymaking, the authors propose possible ways of better reconciling the observed evaluation politics with the need to gather reliable evidence that is used to improve the functioning of the United Nations. The answer to evaluation politics is not to abandon evaluation or isolate it from the stakeholders but to acknowledge surrounding political interests and design evaluation systems accordingly.

The Politics of Evaluation in International Organizations

The Politics of Evaluation in International Organizations PDF Author: Vytautas Jankauskas
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192855204
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 241

Get Book

Book Description
Evaluation has become a key tool in assessing the performance of international organizations, in fostering learning, and in demonstrating accountability. Within the United Nations (UN) system, thousands of evaluators and consultants produce hundreds of evaluation reports worth millions of dollars every year. But does evaluation really deliver on its promise of objective evidence and functional use? By unravelling the internal machinery of evaluation systems in international organizations, this book challenges the conventional understanding of evaluation as a value-free activity. Vytautas Jankauskas and Steffen Eckhard show how a seemingly neutral technocratic tool can serve as an instrument for power in global governance; they demonstrate and explain how deeply politics are entrenched in the interests of evaluation stakeholders, in the control and design of IO evaluation systems, and to a lesser extent also in the content of evaluation reports. The analysis draws on 120 research interviews with evaluators, member state representatives, and IO secretariat officials as well as on textual analysis of over 200 evaluation reports. The investigation covers 21 UN system organizations, including detailed case studies of the ILO, IMF, UNDP, UN WOMEN, IOM, UNHCR, FAO, WHO, and UNESCO. Shedding light on the (in-)effectiveness of evidence-based policymaking, the authors propose possible ways of better reconciling the observed evaluation politics with the need to gather reliable evidence that is used to improve the functioning of the United Nations. The answer to evaluation politics is not to abandon evaluation or isolate it from the stakeholders but to acknowledge surrounding political interests and design evaluation systems accordingly.

Performance Management in International Organizations

Performance Management in International Organizations PDF Author: Marco Amici
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030394727
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Book Description
This book provides a multilevel system analysis of performance in the production of global public goods, as well as a tailored analysis of the specific features of performance management systems in international organizations. The book compares performance management systems across a number of international organizations, including the European Union and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

International Organizations in World Politics

International Organizations in World Politics PDF Author: Tamar Gutner
Publisher: CQ Press
ISBN: 1483320863
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 438

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Book Description
This timely new title examines the importance and impact of major international organizations and their role in global governance. International Organizations in World Politics focuses on the most influential IOs, including the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Trade Organization. For each organization, author Tamar Gutner describes their birth and evolution, governance structure, activities, and performance. A second chapter on each organization presents a case study that illuminates the constraints and challenges each IO faces. Regional organizations and issues are also examined, including the European Union and the euro crisis, as well as a case study on the African Union’s peace operations.

The Politics of Evaluation

The Politics of Evaluation PDF Author: Taylor, David
Publisher: Policy Press
ISBN: 1861346069
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
The widespread popularity of evaluation is based on the need to provide evidence of the effectiveness of policies and programmes. This book sees evaluation as an inherently political activity, and using a wide range of examples it relates practical issues in evaluation design to their political contexts.

Politics and Practices of Intergovernmental Evaluation

Politics and Practices of Intergovernmental Evaluation PDF Author: Ray C. Rist
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351292463
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description
Great intellectual effort has gone into the development of sophisticated designs and methodologies to study individual policies, programs, and projects. Costly efforts to find the smallest evidence of a policy or program impact have been undertaken in the presumption that such data are central to policy decision making. Meanwhile, the intergovernmental nature of political and policy governance has been ignored. Whether it is Canada, the United States, England, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Japan, or any other industrial country, the governmental structure is essentially a web of interrelated policies, programs, and projects. To understand local responsibilities and requirements, one must also understand the role that regional and national governmental agencies and administrations play. Politics and Practice of Intergovernmental Evaluation is a landmark work in the area of the evaluation of intergovernmental policies, programs, and projects. Comparative and cross-national in its perspective, the material presented here not only provides a systematic theoretical and empirical treatment of intergovernmental evaluation, but does so with case material from seven nations and the European Union. No other such comparative work exists on this topic. Contributors include: Jan Eric Furubo; Mary Henkel; Linda G. Morra; Robert V. Segsworth and Dale H. Poel; and Willi Zimmermann and Peter Knoepfel. The Politics and Practice of Intergovernmental Evaluation will be of interest to political theorists, policymakers, and scholars and students of government and the evaluation community.

International Organizations in World Politics

International Organizations in World Politics PDF Author: Tamar Gutner
Publisher: CQ Press
ISBN: 154437464X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 383

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Book Description
International organizations (IOs) are essential and controversial actors in global governance, working on just about every imaginable issue that states cannot easily address individually. The Second Edition of International Organizations in World Politics offers a comprehensive overview of major IOs and regional organizations and their role in global governance. Tamar Gutner presents a variety of theoretical approaches to analyzing the roles and impact of large IOs, including the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Trade Organization, and examines their historical development, governance structure, activities, and performance. For each IO, a detailed case study illuminates the constraints and challenges it faces in areas of contemporary global challenges like conflict resolution, development, the environment, trade, and financial crisis. The Second Edition includes updated coverage of IOs′ responses to major world issues like the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and other geopolitical tensions.

The Politics of Expertise in International Organizations

The Politics of Expertise in International Organizations PDF Author: Annabelle Littoz-Monnet
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1134879717
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
This edited volume advances existing research on the production and use of expert knowledge by international bureaucracies. Given the complexity, technicality and apparent apolitical character of the issues dealt with in global governance arenas, ‘evidence-based’ policy-making has imposed itself as the best way to evaluate the risks and consequences of political action in global arenas. In the absence of alternative, democratic modes of legitimation, international organizations have adopted this approach to policy-making. By treating international bureaucracies as strategic actors, this volume address novel questions: why and how do international bureaucrats deploy knowledge in policy-making? Where does the knowledge they use come from, and how can we retrace pathways between the origins of certain ideas and their adoption by international administrations? What kind of evidence do international bureaucrats resort to, and with what implications? Which types of knowledge are seen as authoritative, and why? This volume makes a crucial contribution to our understanding of the way global policy agendas are shaped and propagated. It will be of great interest to scholars, policy-makers and practitioners in the fields of public policy, international relations, global governance and international organizations.

The Politics of International Organizations

The Politics of International Organizations PDF Author: Patrick Weller
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317645413
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
International organisations (IOs) often receive a bad press, seen as intrusive, domineering and unresponsive to the needs of the people and countries they are meant to serve. The best way to understand the operation of these international organisations is to bring together those who represent their countries at IOs and those who have been working at IOs at various capacities and then to listen to their experiences. This book develops an alternative approach to the analysis of IOs that takes account of all those involved, whether state representatives, IO leaders and members of the secretariat. Experts with long experience in the WTO, the World Bank, the IMF, WIPO, the FAO and the WHO at senior level consider the workings of the IOs, and a conclusion that explicitly draws out the comparative lessons and contrasts the insights of practitioners from those of external observers. This book takes an alternative approach to the analysis of IOs that takes account of all those involved, whether state representatives, IO leaders and members of the secretariat. Providing a well-informed, innovative and consistently structured analysis of IOs this work will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, international organizations and global governance.

Emerging Practices in International Development Evaluation

Emerging Practices in International Development Evaluation PDF Author: Stewart I. Donaldson
Publisher: IAP
ISBN: 1623961858
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 269

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Book Description
The impetus for this volume comes from reflecting on many years of experience, successes and failures in development evaluation in Asia and Africa, and from recent work supported by the Rockefeller Foundation on Rethinking, Reshaping, and Reforming Evaluation. The concepts, frameworks and ideas presented in this volume are a useful contribution to the ongoing efforts at rethinking, reforming and reshaping international development evaluation. They come from leading thinkers and practitioners in development, evaluation, research and academia who have recognized that development evaluation must evolve if it is to respond to the challenges of the 21st Century and play a meaningful role in social and economic transformation. This volume will be of great interest to evaluation scholars, practitioners, and students, particularly to those interested in international development projects, programs, and policies. This book will be appropriate for a wide range of courses, included Introduction to Evaluation, International Development Evaluation, Program Evaluation, Policy Evaluation, and evaluation courses in International Development, International Relations, Public Policy, Public Health, Human Services, Sociology, and Psychology.