Abstract
This article is presented in response to the need for an alternative development that benefits rural communities. By conducting a participatory evaluation of a particular community activity it is possible to bring about changes in the thinking and behavior of the evaluation participants and stimulate an endogenous community capacity development. This is contingent, however, on the ability of the participants to formulate appropriate evaluation questions that specifically address community capacity related issues and processes. In order to do this, appropriate guiding theoretical framework and concepts are required. Thus this paper advocates for a theory-driven participatory evaluation based on a community capacity development and community policy structure model. The model is useful for conceptualizing development in an alternative manner that is more holistic and realistic than the conventional focus on the economic sphere. It will prove a useful framework for both development planning and evaluation, although further elaboration of the model remains as a future task.
