Evaluation in an Open-Ended Political Process

Abstract

Those judging achievement in Sustained Dialogue face complex challenges. On the one hand, participants need the encouragement of accomplishment along the way, and funders want “results.” On the other, progress in the transformation of relationships and deepening of personal capacities is difficult to measure. Specific objectives must be set by the interaction of dialogue — not arbitrarily before dialogue has begun. It is in the very nature of an open-ended political process that setting specific objectives too early can close off pursuing objectives that may become apparent and imaginable only midway in a dialogue. Objectives must be articulated, but they must come out of the dialogue.