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 discourse 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 AK is involved in

• interdisciplinary knowledge transfer and exchange on fundamental evaluation issues such as evaluation objectives and basic ethical questions;
• in the discussion, agreement on and dissemination of standards for evaluation in the field of democracy promotion;
• in the further development and publicizing of suitable and, if necessary, new approaches for the field of action and, among other things
• in the discussion of the possibilities and limits of the social tasks of evaluation in the named field of action.

Topics include, among others:

• Key points of an evaluation policy in the field of democracy;
• Goal definitions 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 the 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 working groups of the DeGEval, 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 AK homepage.

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

Currently, posts about current or previous activities of our working groups are only available in German. You can access them by navigating to our German-language website.

If you have any further questions regarding the activities of DeGEval or specific working groups, do not hesitate to contact the respective spokespersons or our office.