Michael Quinn Patton. 2009. “Evaluating the Complex-Getting to Maybe.” CES. PPT.

Michael Quinn Patton introduces another method for measuring key areas in social justice advocacy. Patton draws from retrospective evaluation techniques and assesses the strategies that have led to successful reforms, policy or otherwise, in the past. Using this methodology, Patton proposes six interconnected strategies to measure in M&E that strengthen advocacy work. Patton notes: 

In essence, strong national/state/grassroots coordination depends on having a high capacity coalition. A solid knowledge and research base contributes to a focused message and effective communications. Message discipline depends on a strong coalition and national-state coordination, as does timely and opportunistic lobbying and judicial engagement.  To build and sustain a high capacity coalition, funders must use their resources and knowledge to collaborate around shared strategies. These factors in combination and mutual reinforcement strengthen advocacy efforts. In classic systems framing, the whole is greater than the sum of parts, and the optimal functioning of each part is dependent on the optimal integration and integrated functioning of the whole.

Chart reproduced from Patton (2009).