Evaluation under pressure: Learning, authority, and interpretive struggles in real-time evaluation under crisis conditions

This article presents a reflexive re-analysis of an externally commissioned real-time evaluation (RTE) of the COVID-19 response in Västmanland County, Sweden. Drawing on material generated during the original evaluation – 33 semi-structured interviews, observations of coordination forums, internal documents, and contemporaneous methodological logs – it examines how learning, authority, and legitimacy were negotiated while crisis governance was still unfolding. The findings show that evaluation under crisis conditions did not operate simply as a neutral diagnostic exercise. Rather, evaluative judgement was shaped by defensive routines, mandate ambiguity, uneven documentation, and legitimacy-sensitive negotiations over wording, evidence, and public representation. At the same time, the evaluation created limited but real openings for reflection, dialogue, and modest coordination adjustments. The article argues that the case illuminates, in concentrated form, more general problems of evaluability, authority, and interpretation in learning-oriented evaluation under institutional strain.