ABSTRACT
Politicians are more concerned with political values than with the technical details of programmes. Therefore, the critical question about a proposed programme is: should it be adopted? Whereas drawing a lesson is about getting to grips with technicalities of programmes in two different countries, the adoption of a lesson is an exercise in political judgement. In a democracy, elected officials have the legitimate right to decide which values should be applied to evaluate a programme. In order to win endorsement, a lesson’s values ought to be congenial, or at least not opposed to those of the governors of the day. This point is often ignored by proponents of best practice, who believe it is self-evident that whatever programme is identified as best by international comparison ought to be adopted without opposition.
