About Resource
The OECD Evaluation Guidelines for Representative Deliberative Process provides guidelines for policy makers, evaluators, and other practitioners who want to evaluate and improve their representative deliberative processes. Representative deliberation has the potential to empower community members and improve policy decisions, and evaluating the process is a key step in ensuring that it effectively meets those goals. The OECD clearly outlines five principles for evaluation of deliberation:
- Independent: It is important for an evaluator not to have a stake in the deliberation under review.
- Transparent: The selection of the evaluator must be transparent, so as to build trust in the eventual evaluation findings.
- Evidence-Based: The evaluation should be based upon valid, reliable data from a variety of sources.
- Accessible: All the relevant information must be accessible to the evaluator (i.e., recordings of meetings and access to group discussions).
- Constructive: Evaluators must both highlight practices that are already strong and identify areas for growth and improvement.
How to Use
This resource is useful to organizations that seek to either facilitate or participate in deliberative processes. Not only does it provide key guidelines for how to evaluate the processes at three different stages: the design of the process, the experience of deliberations, and the eventual pathways to impact, but it also paints a picture of what elements are most important for these stages to be effective, such as evaluating criteria including clear and unbiased framing, representativeness and inclusiveness, respect and mutual comprehension, and influential recommendations.
Section 2 provides key information about what to evaluate at each stage in a deliberative process. This information is also important for those who are designing processes and are seeking information to be intentional about each step.
For those who wish to find concrete templates for evaluating their deliberative processes:
- Annex C has guidelines for participants’ candid assessments of the process. (Member Questionnaire)
- Annex D has questions for process organizers. (Organizer Questionnaire)
- Annex E has evaluation questions for facilitating productive discussions among stakeholders. (Organizer Reflection)
Author(s)/Organization: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Public Governance Directorate
Publication Year: 2020
Tags
Attributes:Aims for Action, Shares Leadership
Outcomes:Capacity for Civic Engagement, Ethical Decision-Making, Strong Community Partnerships
Approaches:Civic Engagement & Policymaking, Dialogue & Deliberation
Type:Guidebooks & Manuals