Reconstructing the field of studies on Public Policies evaluation at Spanish public universities

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Francisco Javier Alarcón-González
Juan José Flores-Candorcio

Abstract

In January 2023, the Law for the Institutionalisation of Public Policy Evaluation in the General State
Administration came into force in Spain. This law takes an important step by establishing the evaluation
of public policies (EPP) as an instrument to improve the effective and efficient use of public resources
and to make the decision-making process more transparent. This requires trained personnel to carry out
evaluations. The aim of this article is to present how university education in EPP is structured in the
public universities of Spain and how the various university degrees linked mainly to Political Science incorporate
courses on public policy analysis and evaluation. Based on the observation and analysis of the
presence of these courses in universities, this study shows in the development of political science studies,
EPP is at an incipient stage, this being a relatively young approach in Spain within the realm of Political
Science and partially limited to a few universities. The proportion of academic credits in public policy
analysis and evaluation out of the overall volume of courses is marginal. This implies that in terms of the
skillset attained at the end of university education and its transfer to the workplace, it vastly depends on
certain universities and the completion of their coursework.

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Miscellaneous