Understanding Evaluation in the UK : Disciplinary Measures, Transformative Possibilities

Duffy, Deirdre Niamh (2017) Understanding Evaluation in the UK : Disciplinary Measures, Transformative Possibilities. In: Evaluation and Governing in the 21st Century :. Palgrave Studies in Science, Knowledge and Policy . Palgrave Macmillan, London, pp. 35-71. ISBN 9781137545121

Abstract

This chapter provides a genealogical tracing of the discourse of evaluation and governing. Evaluation is frequently presented as characteristic of the ascendance of evidence-based policy-making (EBPM). However, through the lens of youth work in the UK and a discussion of the shifting attitudes of policy-making elites towards evaluation research, the chapter disrupts this discourse. As an alternative, it argues that evaluation’s emergence as part of governing has been facilitated by the growth of New Public Management and developments in information communication science. The chapter reviews these discourses, showing that themes within NPM and ICS have been absorbed by evaluation and the evaluation–governing relationship.