Participatory evaluation in the New Public management

Abstract

Every evaluation process has some effects. The explicit ones will command the attention of the evaluators and those evaluated, while the implicit ones go unnoticed. However, the real power of evaluation lies in its implicit effects. Those being evaluated will adapt their personal and professional behavior to the parameters which the evaluation measures, which is one of the implicit effects of every evaluation. Thus, eventually, the model of intervention or management that underlies each evaluation is imposed, since it is the invisible force
behind the review. On occasion, this is used to avoid conflict within public administration, since it permits the imposition of a model of management which otherwise would not be accepted by those involved. In response to such effects, evaluators may choose other perspectives, such as democratic evaluation which B. Macdonald (1991) proposes, since it is more a service to the community involved in the public policy or organization. In this case we will call it participatory evaluation.