Partnerships in Policy and Evaluation European, Development Country and Member State Experiences

This study focuses on the congruence between partnerships in policies and programmes and partnerships in the evaluation of policies and programmes. It employs three case studies. The first case considers a “social partnership” in a European Structural Funds programme and its subsequent evaluation. The second case examines a development co-operation partnership between developing and developed partners, including consideration of partnerships in evaluation. The third case investigates co-operation between a national government and local governments, making use of the concept “subsidiarity” and its implications for partnerships. The conceptual framework classifies programmes and evaluations according to the degree and type of partnership involved. When partnership is of a similar type in a programme and its evaluation, this study calls the situation congruent. In the three cases analysed, some degrees of congruence between the type of partnership in a programme and its evaluation are generally present. The research approach and the conceptual framework point to causes for deviation from the congruence. The approach and the framework also lead one to focus on reasons for the differences between the intended type and degree of partnership and the actual type and degree that materialised. Weak representatives of the programme beneficiaries, capacity deficiencies of partners that are targets of development efforts and mistrust between partners jeopardise partnerships. The study bears certain implications for partnerships in European programmes and their evaluations.