Evaluation of public policies in Brazil and the United States: a research analysis in the last 10 years

Vicente da Rocha Soares Ferreira,Marcos de Moraes Sousa,Charles David Crumpton,Janann Joslin Medeiros,Estela Najberg

doi:10.1590/0034-7612156363

Abstract

Abstract This study compares research on evaluation of public policies in Brazil and the United States. To examine the extent to which evaluation research has been established in these countries, this article uses the methods of bibliometric and social network analysis to compare recent use of evaluation research in these countries. The results show that Brazil and the United States have focused on the same areas of research, especially the areas of health, education and social welfare. It was also observed that researchers from both countries use research methods, although American researchers make more use of quanti-quali methods, and that research networks on policy evaluation in the two country have similar characteristics, although the average size and density of networks in Brazil is less than that in the United States. On the basis of the evidence, it is concluded that evaluation research in Brazil evolved during the period investigated and is becoming consolidated as a field of study and practice.

Highlights

In the United States the analysis of public policies and programs is as old the practice of public policy-making (Munger, 2000)
In light of the emphasis on the development of social policy in Brazil since the establishment of the 1988 constitution and, more during the period beginning in 2003, we expect there to be a bias in this direction in the Brazilian policy analysis and evaluation research literature during the 10 years period covered by the analysis
With respect to the vehicles that publish the scientific production of the field of evaluation research, we found 164 journals in the six data bases: 51 in Brazil and 112 in the United States

Summary

Introduction

In the United States the analysis of public policies and programs is as old the practice of public policy-making (Munger, 2000). An underlying assumption of this article is that policy analysis and evaluation research are well-established features of the public policy and administration landscape in the United States (DeLeon, 2006; Lynn Jr., 1999; Munger, 2000; Rossi, Lipsey and Freeman, 2004) By contrast, this field in Brazil is of more recent vintage. In light of the emphasis on the development of social policy in Brazil since the establishment of the 1988 constitution and, more during the period beginning in 2003, we expect there to be a bias in this direction in the Brazilian policy analysis and evaluation research literature during the 10 years period covered by the analysis The importance of this field of research for improving practice in countries like Brazil that are engaged in strengthening their institutional arrangements and the relative lack of comparative research on the practices of public administration involving Southern hemisphere countries justify this effort to map the characteristics of the field of evaluation research in the two countries. In addition to this introduction, the paper is organized into the following sections: literature review; methods; results and discussion, and final considerations

Literature review

Research method

Results and discussion

Final considerations