Performance evaluation of the democratic indicators monitoring survey

The largest component of the agreement is a series of nationally-representative public opinion surveys that have been conducted biennially since 2006 in 16 Central American, South American, and Caribbean countries. Other components of the agreement include survey oversamples in DIMS countries, a range of reporting and dissemination activities, and special studies, most notably including the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) impact evaluation (IE). The DIMS surveys are a part of the broader AmericasBarometer (AB) project conducted by LAPOP, a research institute at Vanderbilt University. The DIMS public opinion surveys are designed to measure citizen perceptions of and experiences with several aspects of governance and democracy. Their purpose is to: (1) track longitudinal changes in democratization in each country individually as well as the region as a whole; (2) support USAID strategic planning at both Mission and Bureau levels; (3) allow USAID to make cross-national comparisons and develop common indicators of progress; and (4) assess the outcomes of USAID's democracy programming. A rigorous performance evaluation was conducted of the public opinion survey component of the DIMS agreement. The overall purpose of the evaluation was to assess the performance of DIMS and to advise USAID on ways to strengthen the design and implementation of a possible new iteration of the DIMS cooperative agreement. Some of the findings evaluators found include: (1) DIMS has provided an abundance of high quality data to USAID/Washington (USAID/W), USAID country Missions, host governments, NGOs, media and researchers; (2) DIMS methodology adheres to the highest professional standards; (3) the DIMS questionnaire is carefully constructed, with a core time-series of standard questions across countries combined with country-specific and special topic questions; (4) surveys are used by USAID both in the LAC Bureau and in individual country missions, but only somewhat by host country governments and other in-country users; (5) the survey process has increased the survey capabilities of individuals and firms throughout Latin America; and (6) LAPOP has extensive female participation in staff at Vanderbilt, but less at its partners and contractors. The evaluators also provide numerous recommendations in the report. (Excerpt, modified)