Posts │ The production and use of knowledge and information are essential aspects when designing and implementing public policies.

From the process, beginning with problems identification, intervention planning, through its periodic monitoring until the identification of good practices and knowledge systematization, public policies produce and use knowledge and information. But in some cases, bridging research results to officers in charge of designing the policies is difficult.

Different Civil Society Organizations produce valuable information for the political process, but sometimes is unsuccessful in terms of generating previously imagined changes.. VIPPAL offers useful resources to improve this influence capacity and strengthen dialogue with the political system. Our experience with networks, organizations and governments is vast.

Evaluating SCO’s influence may help them promote change in policymakers, during the process of design of public policies and in policies themselves in terms of: attitudes, interpretations, results and procedures. At the same time, dialogue and debate promotion regarding action alternatives around a public interest affair strengthens policies and government actions in general.

But these efforts require that institutional capacities are evaluated so as they can then be maximized with strategies suited to each organization and the specificities of their political contexts.. In order to develop these capacities, a number of frameworks that locate the role of influence are needed, with analytical tools that allow understanding the role of State and civil society in politics.  Therefore, producing a detailed analysis, with a solid framework and context diagnosis and recommendations for the future becomes relevant for institutions with vocation for generating influence at one or more stages of the policy process.

A thorough evaluation of institutional influence shall consider both effective changes in the organization’s sphere of influence (planned or not) created from the influence strategy –dialogue with other institutions, links with decision makers, communication, alliances-; and organizational characteristics- working dynamics, composition, work communication and identity- from the institution that conducts it.

The Economic and Social Council of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CEyS) is an example of how reflecting about influence capacities may support better strategies for the future. The CEyS is a non-state, constitutionally created organism with organic and functional autonomy and an eminently consultive profile where a broad range of actors representing the economic and social spheres look for the economic and social development of the City through the dialogue among their representatives and the government and the social society and with reports written by these actors, focused on the great problems of the City.

With CIPPEC’s support, the CEyS is developing an organizational influence evaluation process to improve the effectiveness of its actions. To do so, an evaluation strategy is being implemented, which includes:

• Relevant actors’ identification,
• Composition, working dynamics and context analysis,
• Compilation of information through interviews,
• Systematization of findings,
• Situation diagnosis and,
• A series of recommendations for designing a strategic influence plan for the future.

Moreover, CIPPEC is also evaluating the influence of the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), whose objective is to guarantee that research findings have a high probability to influence on public policy. That is why it is globally implementing the Political Influence Monitoring (PIM) in alliance with a consortium of expert organization in political processes and changes in evidence-based public policies: the Center for the Implementation of Public Policies for Equity and Growth (CIPPEC), the Center for Poverty Analysis (CEPA), CommsConsult and Overseas Development Institute. Publishable products will include case studies and story of changes that will describe and analyze factors contributing to success with which the research teams reached their influence objectives in low and medium income countries.