Evaluation, learning and the effectiveness of public services

Abstract

Attempts to locate the legitimatory nature of the discourse of quality in the wider context of prevailing ideas about the role of government in the promotion of social welfare and how public service organizations can deliver quality services. Elaborates on the prevailing conventional wisdom underpinning the “New Right” project to restructure public service. Gives a critique of this conventional wisdom which addresses the limitations of “consumerist” notions of quality and the role of instrumentally rational discourses in legitimizing the New Right project of restructuring the State. Develops an alternative conception of public service quality and finally outlines the role for evaluation in promoting social learning as the basis for achieving effectiveness in public services.

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