This contribution gives an overview on the state of the art of programme evaluation in the Federal Republic of Germany. After having explained the reasons why evaluation as a new technique for feeding back information into policy development was claimed, since policy planning became institutionalized, different forms of organizational arrangements for evaluation in federal government are described. Methodological and political obstacles, which are dealt with, can also account for the fragmented instituationalization and have led to lowering the level of aspiration with respect to the political impact of evaluation research as weil as to modifying some methodological devices.