Evaluation and termination in the policy cycle

Policy termination is normally treated within a policy cycle view, where the termination stage is expected to follow, and be guided by, the evaluation stage. This hypothesized linking of termination with evaluation is examined here through the lenses of "reformers" and "guardians," as they relate to the termination question of Project Renewal in Israel. Reformers see the fulfillment of Project Renewal objectives as the precondition for termination. Guardians hold that past commitments are no longer relevant. The question is not whether to evaluate, but what to evaluate; what objectives should count in making cutback and termination decisions. The close linkage posited beween programmatic evaluation and termination seems to have resolved the objectives question, to lead policy analysts to expect, if not prefer, commitment to original objectives. But insofar as we are willing to acknowledge policy termination as a political process, we must refocus our termination lenses to permit a changing set of objectives into this later stage of the policy process.