Reference no: EM133699331

Assignment:

Course Learning Objectives

• Describe and analyze the purpose of program evaluation.
• Explain and justify an array of evaluation methods and approaches, including impact evaluation, cost-effectiveness analysis, cost-benefit analysis.
• Collect, analyze, and interpret qualitative and quantitative data.
• Apply methodological tools to evaluate the impact of public policies and programs.
• Communicate evaluation findings, options, and recommendations to a diverse audience and integrate evaluation standards into their research, analysis, and recommendations in an ethical, sensitive, and culturally inclusive manner.

For this discussion, respond to the following...

• What factors influence which problems get addressed by our legislatures at state or federal levels?
• What influences members of Congress the most in making decisions? Is it their own political ideologies, media, constituency views, the stance of business and other interest groups, their sense of how their votes might affect their re-election chances or the broader public opinion in the nation?
• Much of the policy analysis that is used in public debates today come from interest groups that are strongly committed to one side of the issue or another or from think tanks that espouse a particular ideology on the left or the right. Do you think these policy commitments make the quality of the analysis suspect? Why or why not?

Successful posts will answer each question with specific examples and details from the assigned sources. At least two references should be used including the course text.