Review of Peter H. Rossi and Walter Williams' [Evaluating Social Programs: Theory, Practice, and Politics] (Seminar Press, New York and London, 1972).

A "good but discouraging" book of readings in policy evaluation. Neither of the two key essays, by Rossi and Williams, is optimistic about either the present or short-run future of evaluation. Although both are written in the spirit of "Well, at lea...