This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Bristow, G. Articles by Marsden, T. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Tensions, Limits and Potentials

Evaluating Rural Development Policies in Scotland

Cardiff University, UK, bristowg{at}cardiff.ac.uk

Richard Cowell

Cardiff University, UK

Terry Marsden

Cardiff University, UK

The establishment of the EU’s Rural Development Regulation (EC 1257/99) reflects the continuing efforts of policymakers to develop integrated policy initiatives for the pursuit of sustainable rural development.The resulting changes have been given added impetus in UK regions by the emergence of new forms of rural governance under devolution. This process is also highlighting the need for governments to respond flexibly to distinctive ruralities, as well as the scope for developing greater ‘joined-up’ policy making at the point of implementation. These agendas also present a considerable challenge to the management and evaluation of public policy: objectives have multiplied, become more nuanced, yet may not always be straightforwardly compatible. Thus, policymakers and evaluators alike are being compelled to find new ways of deliberating trade-offs, as well as constructing coherence in policy-making and delivery processes among different policy actors and sectors. Policy evaluation is playing an important, yet problematic role in this search for coherence, and this paper reports on the application of a policy appraisal methodology (the ‘Cardiff Methodology’) to two complex sets of issues facing rural Scotland: the scope for making schemes of public assistance to rural land uses more streamlined, more participative and conditional on compliance with other regulatory requirements; the compatibility of current and emerging transport policies with rural development objectives. The methodology seeks to support the deliberation of issues lying at the interface between sectoral policy objectives, and focuses on identifying the scope for action at the Scottish level in respect of these issues. The paper concludes with some interim findings about the utility and application of the policy evaluation methodology, and considers some wider implications for this new ‘evaluation paradigm’ in rural governance.

Key Words: policy evaluation • sustainable rural development

European Urban and Regional Studies, Vol. 8, No. 3, 235-252 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/096977640100800305


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				F. Leger, D. Vollet, and G. Urbano The difficult match between a territorial policy instrument and the industry-centred tradition of French agricultural policies: the Land Management Contract (LMC) International Review of Administrative Sciences, September 1, 2006; 72(3): 377 - 393. [Abstract] [PDF]