This comprehensive Handbook examines public policy evaluation in democracies. Focusing on the political dimension of the evaluation process, it argues that policy evaluation can be an emancipatory tool, reducing social inequalities and exclusion, and offers novel suggestions on how evaluations can be used to improve democratic policymaking. Laying out how evaluation relates to policy design, law-making, performance auditing and policy learning, this Handbook explores how policy evaluation can foster public participation, strengthen governance and enhance democracy. It uses experimental, constructivist and participatory approaches to analyse global case studies, offering epistemological, theoretical, methodological and normative insights. Contributors examine the institutionalisation of policy evaluation in national and international political systems, how to build evaluation capacity, the transformation of evaluation practice through digitalisation, and the challenges posed to evaluators by post-truth politics and artificial intelligence. This Handbook will be an invaluable resource for academic and professional policy evaluators seeking to deliver effective evaluation processes. It will also be essential reading for students and scholars of public policy, public administration and management, and political research methods.

This volume is a very interesting research project that includes the most careful work on constitutional power and limits to authority of which I am aware. In general, the contributors find that constitutional negotiations normally took place in settings where uncertainty was considerable. They also find that the more detailed the characterization of power relationships, the more liberal and durable the democracy tends to be. Roger D. Congleton This book addresses the issue of the impact of uncertainty in constitutional design. To what extent do constitution drafters and adopters make their decisions behind a veil of ignorance? More fundamentally, can we infer from constitutional texts the degree of uncertainty faced by constitution drafters and adopters? After an introduction (chapter 1), the book proceeds in two parts. The first part (chapters 2 to 4) introduces to the intellectual filiation of the project and to its theoretical and methodological foundations. The second part (chapters 5 to 13) presents nine case studies built on the same structure: historical account of the making of the Constitution, results of the content analysis of the constitutional text, and discussion of specific issues raised in the analysis. Chapter 14 concludes.

This volume is a very interesting research project that includes the most careful work on constitutional power and limits to authority of which I am aware. In general, the contributors find that constitutional negotiations normally took place in settings where uncertainty was considerable. They also find that the more detailed the characterization of power relationships, the more liberal and durable the democracy tends to be. Roger D. Congleton This book addresses the issue of the impact of uncertainty in constitutional design. To what extent do constitution drafters and adopters make their decisions behind a veil of ignorance? More fundamentally, can we infer from constitutional texts the degree of uncertainty faced by constitution drafters and adopters? After an introduction (chapter 1), the book proceeds in two parts. The first part (chapters 2 to 4) introduces to the intellectual filiation of the project and to its theoretical and methodological foundations. The second part (chapters 5 to 13) presents nine case studies built on the same structure: historical account of the making of the Constitution, results of the content analysis of the constitutional text, and discussion of specific issues raised in the analysis. Chapter 14 concludes.

This book provides a comprehensive review of the evolution of traits associated with predation and predator defense for bats and all of their prey, both invertebrates (e.g. insects) and vertebrates (e.g. frogs), in the context of co-evolution. It reviews current knowledge of how echolocation and passive hearing are used by bats to hunt prey in complete darkness. Also it highlights how prey have evolved counter measures to bat echolocation to avoid detection and capture. This includes the whole range of prey responses from being active at times when bats are inactive to the use of acoustic signals of their own to interfere with the echolocation system of bats.

The circumstances under which America's physicians will do their jobs will change more in the next decade than they have in the past 50 years. The Physicians Foundation, based in Boston, has identified some of the most pressing issues facing U.S. doctors-the uncertainty over the Affordable Care Act, where the nation will find the capacity to treat millions of newly insured patients, the continuously expanding administrative burden, the industry's relentless consolidation to gain market leverage and the forces nibbling away at practice autonomy. The book explores these issues in-depth. Veteran health journalist Steve Jacob draws on dozens of interviews and more than 500 published sources to cover these issues and describe how the landscape is changing for doctors.

What's the secret to superior execution? Is it brilliant strategy? Better processes? Superior technology? No. None of these suffices individually, or even in combination. To perform well over the long term, to make everyone's valiant efforts work and "stick," you need another ingredient, something basic and seemingly ordinary: behavior.
New results require new behavior. It's that simple--and that difficult.
"The Behavior Breakthrough" reveals the quiet revolution that is underway in pioneering and successful organizations. Their people routinely focus on "move the needle" priorities, they skillfully identify the new actions that are required to win, and they consistently perform them.
In this compelling book, organizational behavior expert Steve Jacobs and his colleagues explain how these companies do it, presenting the game-changer for new business results. They offer lessons on identifying high-impact behavior, fostering it, and building new and lasting competitive advantage. Moreover, they share the important implications of behavioral leadership for breakthroughs in executing business plans, coaching for elite performance, guiding large-scale change, building culture, and accelerating talent strategies.
Distilling decades of research and experience, the authors deliver a career-changing and life-changing book that will give you "new eyes," simple models for everyday use, and inspiring and instructive stories of Fortune 500 leaders who have won big results.