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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Performance Metrics Boom And Parliamentary Scrutiny And Evaluation, Gordon Marnoch Jan 2008

The Performance Metrics Boom And Parliamentary Scrutiny And Evaluation, Gordon Marnoch

Gordon Marnoch

This paper deals with a series of questions which are posed in relation to performance metrics and the practices of parliamentarians as ‘end-users’ scrutinising and evaluating public policies. Does the availability of an extensive range of metrics allow parliamentarians to scrutinise governments’ policy records and progress with specific programmes? Alternately is there evidence of ‘producer capture’ in the sense that metrics are used to narrowly ‘frame issues’, to the exclusion of key dimensions which might otherwise be subject to political scrutiny? Are performance metrics which require relatively high degrees of analytic capacity on the part of parliamentarians ignored due to …


A Review Of Empirical Research On Politicians’ Behaviour As End-Users Of Performance Metrics, Gordon Marnoch Jan 2008

A Review Of Empirical Research On Politicians’ Behaviour As End-Users Of Performance Metrics, Gordon Marnoch

Gordon Marnoch

This working paper reviews in detail seven key empirical studies, which examined the behaviour of politicians as ‘end-users’ of performance metrics. In addition to considering main findings, the review has been used to examine alternative research designs and methods, which may be employed in a study investigating performance metrics and user behaviour in the Scottish Parliament. The review suggests use is limited in the context of oversight and conditional on certain institutional factors.


Performance Stories A Comparison Of The Annual Reports Presented By The U.S. Department Of Veterans Affairs And The English National Health Service, Gordon Marnoch Jan 2008

Performance Stories A Comparison Of The Annual Reports Presented By The U.S. Department Of Veterans Affairs And The English National Health Service, Gordon Marnoch

Gordon Marnoch

Annual reports can contribute to the legitimacy of public service organizations in creating a favorable story around performance achievements. It is also the case that annual reports can have unintended consequences, provoking negative reactions on the part of their readers. Health services performance stories in the form of annual reports presented by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the English National Health Service between 2002 and 2005 are compared through a narrative analysis of structure and content. Conclusions are drawn as to the relative success each organization achieves in the telling of its performance story through annual reports. In …