vThile measuring programmatic performance in public agencies is
virtually ubiquitous in public agencies and nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs) across the world, decisions regarding what to measure and
how to measure have been affected by a number of societal trends as
well as seminal events that have shaped public deliberations to privilege
some types of measures over others. Public program performance is itself
an amorphous concept open to a multitude of operational definitions
and may be measured and interpreted in a variety of ways by different
stakeholders (Moynihan, 2008; Newcomer, 1997) . In addition, selection
· of measures and studies tends to occur in a politically charged arena.
The risks of having evaluations or performance data used to embarrass
governments, criticize programs or policies, reduce funding, or force
change are likely to weigh heavily on those charged '"rith making the
measurement decisions (Moynihan, 2008; Newcomer, 1997).