John G. Heilman

Water Policy Networks in the United States

Evidence suggests that the US water sector is characterised by multiple arrays but not an overarching sector‐wide arrangement encompassing all the major decision‐making participants. The water policy field is marked by considerable fragmentation in structure, as well as by largely‐uncoordinated policy. Several forces ‐ including ‘metapolicy’ shifts, professionalism and alterations in professional dominance, and the tension between advocates of more integrated water policy‐making (on the one hand) and interests favouring the status quo (on the other) ‐ have influenced the dynamics of network changes over time. Evidence also suggests that the structure of network organisation in the water sector has impacts on policy outputs. The network idea adds to the understanding of policy change in the US case, but there are also reasons to expect network‐based investigations to face limitations in explanatory power in the field of comparative policy.

Uses of Direct and Indirect Measures

This article assesses selected direct and indirect measures of energy conservation program impact. The analysis is based on a case study of three sets of impact data generated by one of the Energy Extension Services most successful pilot period programs. The indirect estimates are found to run about twice as high as the estimate based on before-and-after direct measurements and to suffer from large sampling errors. Although more accurate and reliable, direct measurements can encounter problems of time and cost. In such cases, survey evidence on implementation rates can be combined with pretest evidence on possible savings to yield usable esiimates of program impact.

Publicization, privatization, synthesis, tradition: options for public-private configuration (1)

In contrast to the attention paid to the privatization movement, relatively little heed has been given to a related and similarly large and important trend toward publicization. In publicization, a public sector organization proactively undertakes actions or responsibilities, and takes on characteristics, usually identified in that given setting with the private sector. An example of this movement appears at the local level of government: the ongoing funding available from Urban Development Action Grant and Community Development Block Grant programs is invested in development projects that private sector firms undertake. After discussing these examples, the article develops the concept of publicization and examines it in relation to the well-established concept of privatization. Based especially on the work of E.S. Savas, a typology is developed to place both publicization and privatization in a broader framework of public-private configurations. The typology indicates the relationship among publicization...

Public regardingness in energy conservation attitudes

Abstract Though many studies have explored public attitudes concerning energy conservation programs, few have addressed attitudes which are specifically political in the sense of addressing the relationship between the individual and the community or state. The paper suggests a role in evaluation research for the study of political values that are potentially relevant to energy conservation policy. The concept of public regardingness helps to define such values. The paper develops the concept of public regardingness, and examines state-level survey data concerning public regarding attitudes. The findings suggest that the public regarding component of attitudes concerning energy conservation is weak and unrelated to variables including income, education, and race. The implications of this finding for the future of energy policy are suggested.

On the Organizational Theory of Evaluation Economic and Political Constraints and the Choice of an Evaluation Agent

This article uses Wamsley and Zalds discussion of the political economy of public organizations to develop categories of constraints on evaluation in bureaucratic settings. It argues that the relevant literature focuses largely on political factors, in part because this literature concentrates on the utilization of evaluation results. Interviews with federal administrators concerning the establishment of an evaluation unit are used to explore a mix of economic and political factors. The article concludes that program managers choosing an evaluation agent have some latitude to determine the timing and context of different struggles over evaluation.

Beyond the Technical and Bureaucratic Theories of Utilization

Technical and bureaucratic considerations frame current theories of utilization. These theorees distract attention from the range of broad substantive knowledge evaluators have generated. Two proposals recognize that this knowledge reservoir can help promote use if its contents are properly organized; both, however, have limitations. Data synthesis assumes scores of statistically comparable studies. Social problem study groups are not well-designed for making the knowledge frontiers they define generally accessible. This article suggests supplementing these approaches to building knowledge with an increased emphasis on synthesizing reviews. Even though such reviews currently enjoy modest status at best, they serve to strengthen the profession and promote utilization.

Privatization of Wastewater Treatment Plants: Lessons from Changing Corporate Strategies:

Burgeoning budgetary pressures have created considerable interest for the privatization of public services. Privatization is usually justified in terms of the cost effectiveness that laissez-faire economics impose on the private sector. Yet, this model has come under challenge in the corporate world because businesses often must pursue other goals than just cost minimization, such as product quality, flexibility of production, and long-term alliances with other corporations, including ostensible competitors. A similar situation exists concerning the privatization of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) during the 1980s. Rather than adhering to the laissez-faire model, WWTP privatization was much more concerned with quality, flexibility, and “public-private partnerships,” suggesting that a broader and more sophisticated view of privatization is needed.

Theory-driven evaluation: How conceptions of personal choice and organizational process can inform studies of energy conservation

Abstract This essay take a position not widely supported in the evaluation literature: general theory can usefully inform evaluative research. Current discussions of naturalistic methods and the problem of utilization can be read as supporting this view, as can several recent contributions concerning “program theory”. Evaluators can draw on general theory to drive investigations that are productive regardless of whether the results support the hypotheses being tested. Research examples that show how this can be done are introduced. They bring conceptions of personal choice and organizational process to bear on the evaluation of energy conservation programs.