Hacia la delimitación de un marco teórico conceptual para la investigación evaluativa

Abstract

The different approaches to public policy evaluation are usually situated in a framework of a technical nature. This has meant that public policies are understood as sequential processes that must be analyzed in stages and in function of unifying definitions of the intervention problems. Such analysis aproaches, however, simplify and limit the analysis of these complex decision making processes. By working from the concepts of decentralized coordination and contextual differentiation, we can identify different dimensions involved in the processes of public intervention, as well as the ways on which these are linked and coordinated in its implementation. Understanding public policies beyond their political dimension and recognizing the conflict of interests and expectations as determinants of outcomes; force us to rethink the research and evaluation of public policies, moving away from more traditional strategies focused on technical approaches.