Pressure on evaluators has been investigated recently by surveys in the USA, the UK, Germany, and Switzerland. This study compares the results of those studies regarding pressure on evaluators in different countries. The findings suggest that independence of evaluations does not exist for many respondents. Moreover, the person who commissioned the evaluator for evaluation is identified by all studies as the primary influencing stakeholder in the evaluation process. In terms of differences, Germany seems to be more prone to pressure on evaluators. However, German evaluators do not show stronger tendencies to surrender to pressure than the other countries' respondents. We suggest that this pattern may be explained by the strong state tradition in Germany as opposed to the U.S. and Switzerland, in conjunction with evaluators' profession-based, principled resistance to such pressure.
The independence of evaluations has gained increasing attention in research. So far, research has mainly focused on evaluators' experiences when confronted with pressure, leading to a restricted view of the complex context in which evaluations take place. Therefore, this article broadens the debate and follows the call by previous studies to pay attention to evaluation clients, which have been identified as the main influencing stakeholders within evaluation processes. The findings of an online survey among Swiss evaluation clients show that most clients have never been told by evaluators that they put the latter under pressure, even though previous studies found that half of the evaluators feel pressured. Nonetheless, clients frequently experience conflicts during evaluations that are often caused by a lack of a common understanding between evaluators and clients. Thus, we conclude that preventive measures are needed to increase the parties' mutual comprehension, and ultimately, the quality of evaluation results.
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