Evaluation is an indispensable part of the institutional decision-making process, because it generates
information that is relevant to improving government decisions in the different stages that make up the
basic cycle of state intervention, allowing for the monitoring of the implementation of public policies
(NEPP, 1999: iv).
I consider, in this study, the definition proposed by Vedung (2000), that says that evaluation is a
careful retrospective assessment of merit, worth and value of administration, output and outcome of
government interventions, which is intended to play a role in future, practical action situations.
This definition is one among the many existing definitions for the subject and, according to the author
himself, is not free from controversies. The methodological clarity of its presentation and the wide
range of its affirmations are, however, adequate for this paper, which is aimed at setting parameters for
evaluation in an area where there are no holistically formulated studies.