Evaluation in France, a component of territorial public action

Evaluation practices developed in France, especially by local authorities a nd above all by regional councils, provide an interesting opportunity to ex amine from the inside the way public policies are constructed. Taking evalu ation practices seriously as a subject df study reminds us, in a way, of th e necessary empiricism needed to analyse public policies. At a time when th is discipline experiences, at least in France, a surge in conceptual propos als, the point of view expressed here aims to point out the necessary modes ty we have to show in the face of the complexity of the subjects studied an d of the usefulness of evaluation practices to explain territorial public p olicies.