The relation of the concept of metapolicy to the evaluation agenda is discussed. Metapolicy is a general rule or policy about how public policies should be made or implemented. Broad shifts in metapolicy create new agenda items for evaluation. If the shift is toward reduced federal involvement in social programs, new evaluation questions are not as easily identified as when increasing federal involvement has brought them out. Examining the metapolicy itself can suggest questions for evaluation. The principles of New Federalism as examples of metapolicy are discussed. Using the example of the capital-intensive privatization of municipal waste water treatment services, metapolicy is evaluated. (SLD)