Daniela Eberli
Ph.D. Student
Subproject 4: Swiss Parliaments and Evaluation
Explaining Evaluation Utilization in the Legislature: The Case of Switzerland
The question of evaluation utilization represents a key issue in research on evaluation. Parliamentary work can benefit from evaluations, as they assist in the understanding of policies. However, evaluations are only one factor out of many in the policy-making process. Current research indicates that members of parliament rather use evaluations for strategic purposes than for getting a sense of how a policy works. The planned project, therefore, seeks to answer the following main questions: how are evaluations being used in the legislature, and what influence do evaluations have in the legislature? In order to answer these questions, this PhD project applies a framework consisting of four factors affecting use: individual characteristics of a parliamentarian, organizational characteristics of the parliament, characteristics of the political context, and lastly the characteristics of the evaluation. With the purpose of testing the framework, an online survey with members of parliament will be conducted on the national and on the cantonal level. The survey will be complemented by a qualitative approach in order to account for the diverse and changing context factors, which influence the decision-making process and consequently the use and influence of evaluations.
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University of Zurich
Department of Political Science
Affolternstrasse 56
CH-8050 Zurich