Evaluation
The legitimacy of the federal authorities’ actions is measured not only by their legality and democratic quality, but also by their effectiveness and the efficient use of resources. In this respect, evaluations are an important tool of outcome-orientated public administration. They promote transparency and serve public accountability. They reveal the shortcomings of certain measures and offer ways of improving them.
Evaluations take place at every stage of the political decision-making process:
When an aim is being set and a programme drawn up, an evaluation helps to identify the consequences of the various options and to devise effective strategies. During the implementation phase, it points out to problems in relation to the application and to ways in which they can be tackled. Finally, in the monitoring phase, evaluations will show whether the measures taken by the authorities are reaching the target population and whether they are having the desired effects.
Evaluation by parliament
The Swiss parliament uses evaluations above all during the monitoring phase of the political process. In addition to its legislative and budgetary tasks, parliament is also responsible for monitoring the activities of the Federal Council and the federal administration, the federal courts and other bodies entrusted with tasks by the Confederation. Evaluations constitute an essential tool for ensuring successful parliamentary oversight.
In accordance with Art. 170 of the Federal Constitution, the Swiss parliament may also evaluate the efficiency of measures taken by the federal authorities. Such evaluations are more comprehensive than those that are carried out as part of parliamentary oversight, since they include not only monitoring the application of legislation by the bodies responsible, but also verifying the actual configuration of the legislation.
Evaluations are time-consuming and methodologically demanding. A militia parliament does not have the resources to carry out this task itself. For this reason, the Federal Assembly decided in 1991 to set up the PCA, a specialised service which carries out evaluations on behalf of parliament.