Policy Evaluation

A key objective of policy evaluation is assessing the efficacy of public policies. When evaluating public policy, compliance is treated both as an indicator of policy effectiveness and as a necessary intermediary outcome for achieving policy goals. Given the importance of compliance within broader assessments of policy efficacy, scholars have dedicated substantial attention to identifying policy, individual, and organizational factors linked to policy compliance. This chapter discusses what is meant by compliance in the context of policy evaluation and ways that it can be measured therein. It also provides an overview of recent scholarship that addresses determinants of compliance as relevant for policy evaluation.