Co-creating evaluation for policy relevance

What role can evaluation play in bearing factual knowledge to counter misinformation and propaganda? Does evaluation provide constructive critique and informed judgment to improve public policies? I address these questions revolving around three axes—a political-economy, epistemological, and behavioral line of analysis—which do not unfold separately but overlap and intertwine systematically. The political-economy perspective urges evaluators to raise awareness about their public role in institutional settings. They are methods experts and actors that embrace values, including human rights and democracy. The epistemological perspective helps evaluators grasp the technical and tacit knowledge they generate and contribute to situated responsiveness. The behavioral perspective helps evaluators understand the cognitive features of human-bounded rationality while co-creating policy-relevant information through enhanced participation.