Mémoire
| Résumé : | This work strives to shed a light on the evaluation activities included in the National Operational Programme “Metropolitan Cities” for the implementation of European cohesion funds in Italy. It builds on Europeanisation and multi-level governance theories, as well as on evaluation studies, to apply the typology developed by Schoenefeld and Jordan (2017) for policy evaluation to the field of cohesion policy. In particular, it assesses whether top-down pressures for compliance prevail on a polycentric model of evaluation governance, or vice versa. Relevant data are gathered from all documents available on the matter on the website of the selected Programme, as well as from an interview with a top official involved the management of its evaluation between 2016 and 2021. After an overview of the Programme, its objectives, projects, and evaluation activities carried out so far, both hypotheses are nuanced. On the one hand, the variety of actors involved in the process reveals a tendence towards polycentric governance of evaluation; on the other hand, compliance with European Regulations and guidelines on the matter is ensured through a constant referral to them and through participation in Commission initiatives to strengthen such procedures throughout the Union. Overall, a formal while polycentric model of evaluation, leading to commonly negotiated standards and methods in line with Schoenefeld and Jordan’s (2017) conceptualisation, is depicted in this analysis. |
