Democracy

The Working Group on Democracy in DeGEval sees itself as a forum for the exchange of evaluation research actors who focus on the fields of action and topics of democracy promotion. The working group is therefore aimed at individuals and members of organizations involved in evaluations/scientific monitoring in the promotion of democracy (participation, promotion of civil society, shaping diversity, political education and prevention of extremism).

The subject of the working group's discussions is the reflection of evaluation practice and its methodological and content-related further development, taking into account the specifics of the field of action.

Accordingly, the Working Group is involved in

• interdisciplinary knowledge transfer and exchange on fundamental questions of evaluation such as evaluation objectives and basic ethical issues;
• discussing, agreeing on and disseminating the Standards for Evaluation in the field of democracy promotion;
• in the further development and dissemination of suitable and, where appropriate, new approaches for the field of action and, among other things
• discussing the possibilities and limits of the social tasks of evaluation in the named field of action.

Topics include the following

• Key points of an evaluation policy in the field of democracy;
• Defining objectives with the participation of clients, evaluators, practitioners and other relevant stakeholders;
• Evaluation in the context of complex, persuasive, but also morally charged programs;
• Methodological possibilities and limitations of impact evaluations;
• Interfaces between socio-educational, criminal law or socio-political topics in evaluation;
• Democracy as an object of evaluation, the democratic contribution of traditional and new forms of participation and discussion of the role of evaluation in democracy.

The working group has an interdisciplinary orientation and seeks exchange with other DeGEval working groups, especially those that span different fields. The working group participates with at least one session at the annual conferences of the DeGEval. In addition, the working group regularly organizes spring conferences in cooperation with other stakeholders.

The working group's homepage provides information on the activities and products of the working group's work.

The working group is represented within DeGEval and externally by a team of at least two spokespersons. The current contact details can also be found on the homepage.

Registrations for working group's mailing list can be made informally at ak-demokratie@degeval.org.