Program Evaluation and the Reagan Administration: The California Years

Program evaluation in California while Ronald Reagan was governor was studied, in the GAO Review, Vol. 17, Issue 2, Spring 1982, to assess whether it will be an important tool for policymaking and management in the Reagan Administration. In California, the scope of program evaluation was broadened horizontally across State departments and agencies to examine cross-program effects and side effects in different policies and programs. Similar evaluations might be expected at the Federal level. There may be a reduced volume of evaluation activities and less structure at the Federal level due to the new Federalism. Federal evaluation policy during the Reagan Presidency will probably call for decentralized evaluations.