PUBLIC RELATION AND GOVERNANCE

Government Public Relations: What Is It Good For?

1.  Public Relations as a Tool for Doing Public Administration Better

Public relations  can help a public administrator do a better job by being better at

(1) implementing the agency’s central mission and

(2) fulfilling the democratic responsibilities inherent in government.

here is how the different purposes of government public relations (PR) fit together:

I. Mandatory: Democratic purposes of government public relations

1. Media relations

2. Public reporting

3a. Responsiveness to the public (as citizens)

II. Optional: Pragmatic purposes of government public relations

3b. Responsiveness to the public (as customers and clients)

4. Increasing the utilization of services and products (Public outreach)

5. Public education and public service campaigns (Public outreach)

6. Seeking voluntary public compliance with laws and regulations (Public outreach)

7. Using the public as the eyes and ears of an agency (Public outreach)

III. Dangerous, but powerful: Political purposes of government public relations

8. Increasing public support

IN DETAIL:

I:Communication is the basic prerequisite for democracy . being public they have to do some communication such as: answering enquries , news etc.

Similarly, given the central role of public opinion in a democracy, public administrators have a duty to report to the citizenry on the work of the agency and its stewardship of taxpayer funds. Again, these are part of the rubric of public relations. Hence, when focusing on these purposes, public relations is integral to public administration, not ancillary to it.

 1. Media Relations

   Government managers are public servants. They are accountable to the public, not quite like elected officials, but accountable nonetheless. One way that this accountability is operationalized is by the obligation of public administrators to work transparently, including the duty to respond to media questions, inquiries, and requests. the news media was an instrument of democracy, serving as the feedback loop of the democratic process.

However, government–media relations tend to be stormy. Besides a built-in skepticism about “official sources” that is part of journalistic culture, there are several factors that specifically contribute to the difficulty of a public administrator having consistently good relations with the media. These factors include the following:

◾◾ The negative image of the bureaucrat in pop culture and public opinion

◾◾ The profit-making motives of the media

◾◾ The entertainment motives of the media

◾◾ The increasing competitiveness of old media versus new

◾◾ The fact that government agencies tend to generate inherently nonvisual and undramatic news that is often unattractive to the news media

◾◾ The built-in predisposition of reporters to archetypal stories that, by their very nature, put public administration in a bad light, such as a citizen being unfairly victimized by heartless bureaucrats, a government agency wasting money, or a government agency standing by idly (or incompetently) while a certain category of the population suffers

◾◾ The antigovernment strain within American political culture

2. Public Reporting

By cooperating with the news media, a public servant is being held accountable to

the citizenry indirectly through news coverage. However, the democratic obligation of public accountability should also be operationalized by directly informing the public at large. This is called public reporting. The purpose of public reporting is a generalized duty of the public administrator to convey information to the public on the agency’s stewardship of its mission and its use of taxpayer funds.

The classic manifestation of public reporting is an agency’s annual report.(totally unreadable).

however e gov has emerged a powerful tool in this regard.

so it leads to interaction , accountability , feedback etc.

3a. Responsiveness to the Public as Citizens

II :

The tools and techniques of public relations help reach potential customers and clients, notify the public of new laws and programs, promote the goals of the agency through public service campaigns that encourage (or discourage) certain behaviors, or increase public cooperation with the agency, such as through tip lines and websites.

Through public relations, an agency can extend its reach without necessarily increasing its size and costs.

3b. Responsiveness to the Public as Customers and Clients

The same purpose of responsiveness also belongs in the category of a public relations tool that can improve the pursuit of the agency’s policy mission, the doing of public administration. For example, some governmental units have an ombudsman. This office is usually tasked with the duty to investigate complaints from clients and customers and then to correct authentic mistakes. This has the purpose of improving service delivery to enhance the central work of the agency, in contradistinction to the preceding purpose when responsiveness to public opinion was one way that public relations improves democracy in public administration.

Another aspect of using public relations to improve the central work of the agency is by trying to see the organization through the eyes of an outsider. Sometimes it’s called an experience audit.

This focus is sometimes called clue management, in the sense that every detail gives the customer a clue if the agency is trying to be customer friendly or not.

4–7. Public Outreach

While the term public relations is usually viewed negatively by politicians, outreach has, inexplicably, been warmly embraced. Ibid for public awareness. Elected officials expect government agencies to engage in outreach with their stakeholders and to make the public aware of important information.

there are four distinct public relations purposes that fall within the rubric of government outreach

4. (Outreach:) Increasing the Utilization of Services and Products

a public servant managing a program is a failure if only a small percentage of eligible citizens utilize it. Part of public administration is to engage in outreach that informs potential customers and clients of services that they may be able to use.

5. (Outreach:) Public Education and Public Service Campaigns

By using paid and free media coverage, an agency can accomplish its mission and reduce its expenditures by encouraging behavior that has broad social approval and reflects widely held values. These are sometimes called public service campaigns. Whether it’s about using seat belts to save lives (“click it or ticket”), washing hands frequently during flu outbreaks, or reducing consumption of junk food, these government agencies are reaching out to the public as a way of accomplishing their public policy goals.

6. (Outreach:) Seeking Voluntary Public Compliance with Laws and Regulations

7. (Outreach:) Using the Public as the Eyes and Ears of an Agency

The key to the success of this function is that citizens are familiar with their potential role as an extension of the agency, an awareness accomplished through public relations.

III:

Generally speaking, government agencies desire autonomy.[9] Then, they can operate more as they wish and with less political interference from legislators and the elected chief executive.

good public relations can enhance the power of an agency and help it grow and thrive.

8. Increasing Public Support