ABSTRACT
In developing the analyses of the individual countries, a critical effort included framing the definitions of key terms. Phrases like “program evaluation,” “policy analysis,” “policy evaluation,” “policy studies,” “effectiveness audits,” and “policy forecasting” were all used, and often interchangeably. The distinction between retrospective analysis, as the focus for program evaluation, and prospective analysis, as the focus for policy analysis, is the result of efforts at definition that began as early as 1965 by Anthony, followed then by A. Wildavsky in 1969, Poland in 1974, and E. Chelimsky as recently as 1985. The development of program evaluation, both in terms of its methodologies as well as the kinds of questions that it could address, has resulted in a clear expansion of what comes under its umbrella. Taking a life-cycle approach to government policies or programs means that the evaluator can retrospectively assess at least three distinct phases: policy creation or formulation, policy implementation, and policy outcomes or impacts.
