Monitoring & evaluation of advocacy campaigns literature review

This literature review, written by Cristina Mansfield for the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA), examines current thinking in the evaluation of advocacy. The review was developed inorder to inform the development of a tool for monitoring and evaluating advocacy programs by EAA. The findings of the review highlight the fact that advocacy evaluation is still an emerging field and tools a processes for conducting and evaluation in this field are still in the early stages of development.

Excerpt

"One of the newer topics emphasized in the current literature is the need for advocates to develop a theory of change to demonstrate that their advocacy design is sound. A theory of change can be as simple as a short paragraph, but it is rapidly becoming a formal approach in which the main concern is to identify and address hidden assumptions about change. While most advocates go through the steps of conducting a problem analysis, identifying stakeholders, etc., few articulate a theory of change. For this reason evaluators are likely to be asked to evaluate work for which there is no documented theory of change. Familiarity with the concept will enable evaluators to facilitate a session with individuals responsible for advocacy work in order to retroactively build a theory of change that can be used during a retrospective evaluation. Another technique for facilitating the design of sound advocacy work is the composite logic model, which resembles more closely the common logical framework." (Mansfield, 2010)

Contents

  • Introduction 1
    • Overview of the Sources 1
    • Limitations 2
    • Literature Review Structure 2
  • Definitions & types of evaluation   3
  • Advocacy evaluation challenges   4
  • Theory of change 5
    • Definition & Relevance for Advocacy Evaluation   5
    • Theory of Change: Basic Steps and Information 7
    • Observations 10
    • Composite Logic Model   10
  • Frameworks, benchmarks and indicators   12
    • General Frameworks   12
    • Policy Change 16
    • Capacity of Civil Society Organizations   22
    • Democratic Space 22
    • Policy Impact 22
    • Empowerment   22
    • Social Norms   22
    • Base of Support   22

Sources

Mansfield, C. (2010). Monitoring & Evaluation of Advocacy Campaigns Literature Review, Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA). Retrieved from: http://www.e-alliance.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/docs/Advocacy_Capacity/2011/11._EAA_M_E_Literature_Review.pdf