Policy evaluation and meta-evaluation: The case of rural co-operatives

Many presentations of debates about co-operatives and rural development, and some of these debates themselves, are simplistic, or self-asserting, or self-defeating. Evaluation theory has not been given the attention it merits. Positions in meta-evaluation have been un-, or misidentified. Philosophical problems of values at the levels of policy and programme analysis have been neglected or glossed over. This paper addresses itself to some of these issues, in respect of the structuring of the evaluative argument and counter-argument. The case of rural co-operative evaluation is analysed by a method which could also be used for study and appraisal of other public policies for development.