Our research asks how 89 randomly sampled development bureaucrats in three OECD member states—Germany, Norway and South Korea—make sense of and pursue the amorphous concept of development effectiveness. Amid waning global norm adherence and a booming evidence industry, our analysis demonstrates the analytical value of distinguishing scales and modes of development effectiveness. In each of the resulting four dimensions, bureaucrats’ pursuit of development effectiveness is mediated by two primary considerations: how to satisfy their political principals, and how to shape public opinion in favour of their policy field. The implications are threefold. First, the four dimensions do not allow for meaningful (re)integration into one coherent concept. Second, a scalar shift of development effectiveness as a policy objective has rendered global processes and macro-level impacts rhetorical reference points as donor-country bureaucrats have refocused their attention to domestic audiences. Third, a purported embrace of evidence-based policy-making also constitutes a tactical move to safeguard national budget allocations through public legitimation. Overall, our findings therefore caution against optimism about an impending evidence revolution as donor bureaucracies have entered yet another era of national interest-driven development politics.