Public policy evaluation in the Middle East and North Africa region: politics and context

This introductory chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the book’s focus on public policy evaluation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. It outlines the historical, political, and socio-economic factors shaping public administration and governance in MENA countries. The chapter presents a theoretical framework categorising MENA countries into autocratic developmental models, authoritarian stable regimes, and authoritarian unstable regimes and examines how these political structures, along with Napoleonic and Anglo-Saxon administrative traditions, influence evaluation practices. The chapter additionally highlights the role of international organisations and policy advisory systems in evaluation. The chapter aims to elucidate the challenges and opportunities for effective policy evaluation in the MENA region, setting the stage for the detailed case studies and discussions that follow.