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THIS PAPER ARGUES THAT IN POLICY EVALUATION A CRITICALLY REFLECTIVE "PRACTICAL DISCOURSE" IS A VALUABLE REMEDY AGAINST THE TECHNICAL-INSTRUMENTAL BENT OF APPLIED SCIENCE, BUT THAT RECOVERY OF A FULLY NON-INSTRUMENTAL "PRACTICAL" JUDGEMENT PRESUPPOSES AN EVALUATION NOT ONLY OF CONCRETE POLICIES BUT OF THE STATUS OF "POLICY" ITSELF.

ABSTRACTIn the confines of the study of politics, public policy analysis involves a shift from pure to applied research, a shift which intensifies the problem of the fact‐value split inherited from positivist behavioralism. While early public policy literature concentrated on empirical policy‐making processes bypassing moral criteria, some recent writings have elaborated on policymaking and policy evaluation as a type of normative inquiry; significant steps in this direction have been undertaken by Duncan MacRae and especially by Jurgen Habermas in the context of "critical theory." According to Habermas, policy evaluation requires a critically reflective "practical discourse" open not only to experts or policy analysts but to the public at large. The paper argues that such discourse is a valuable remedy against the technical‐instrumental bent of applied science, but that recovery of a fully non‐instrumental "practical" judgement presupposes an evaluation not only of concrete policies but of the status of "policy" itself.

In the confines of the study of politics, public policy analysis involves a shift from pure to applied research, thus intensifying the problem of the fact-value split inherited from positivist behavioralism. While early public policy literature concentrated on empirical policy-making processes, bypassing moral criteria, Duncan MacRae, Jr. (The Social Function of Social Science, Yale University Press, 1976) & Jurgen Habermas (Toward a Rational Society: Student Protest, Science, and Politics, Shapiro, Jeremy [Tr], Beacon Press, 1970; Legitimation Crisis, McCarthy, Thomas [Tr], Beacon Press, 1975) have elaborated on policy making & evaluation as a type of normative inquiry. According to Habermas, policy evaluation requires a critically reflective "practical discourse" open not only to experts or policy analysts but to the public at large. Such discourse is argued to be a valuable remedy for the technical-instrumental bent of applied science, but recovery of a fully noninstrumental "practical" judgment presupposes an evaluation not only of concrete policies but of the status of policy itself. Modified HA.