2021 Volume 21 Issue 1 Pages 71-83
This paper aimed to examine how to achieve better policy evaluation regarding science, technology, and innovation (STI) considering the case of France. The paper consists of three parts, as presented below: (1) President Charles de Gaulle firstly set up an advisory body in his administration to monitor the STI policy and advise decision-makers. The policy evaluation system was established in the 1980s under a new left party government. (2) There were some trials and errors until the 1990s to make policy evaluations more robust and credible by using bottom-up, redundant, and proactive monitoring, and considering the interaction between the evaluation and the resource management of researchers and research units. (3) With a need for a national STI policy strategy development, what followed was the establishment of an integrated evaluation body (Le Haut Conseil de l’évaluation de la recherche et de l’enseignement supérieur) and a supervising body (Le Conseil stratégique de la recherche). In conclusion, policy evaluation can be improved through an integrated discussion on the aim (i.e. economic impact assessment), processes (i.e. linkage with government funding), and institutional placement (i.e. independence) of monitoring and advice (i.e. organisations).
