This note positions developments of and debates on innovation policies in a historical and wider context. It is complemented by a set of resources mostly produced by me and a set of colleagues with whom I very often work with. Its ambition is to enable the reader to have a background to position the ‘programmes’ and ‘activities’ under evaluation. It covers 4 dimensions: Initial definitions and key concepts mobilised, a simplified model for analysing components of a policy, a macro view of the evolution of policies since their creation as S&T or R&D policies at the beginning of the 1960s, and a discussion about factors to consider and challenges ahead. It concludes by discussing caveats linked to the evaluation of effects and impacts.