The first part of the text is devoted to an assessment of the influence of the introduction of performance contracts in the Public Employment Service (PES) in France. It shows that this management technique (“contractualism”) had a very marginal impact in the period considered (1990-2003). This, to the author, is linked to the French institutional context. The role of such an institutional context is exemplified in part 2 that presents a case study during the same period (1991-92). It is an instance of “capture” of evaluation by the French government. It shows that (i) the media alone are unable to provide alternative channels to the dissemination of “objective” information when (ii) institutional features are adverse/conducive to enhancing the quality of the public debate. The case study is chosen in the domain of labour market programmes and the Public Employment Service (PES) in the early 90s, a policy period where the public debate has been at its most contentious and controversial for the last 30 years in France.
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