Building Legitimacy through Government Communication Capacity

The Philippine Information Agency recently announced that the president “wants more aggressive communication of government affairs.” In a directive to her newly appointed press secretary, President Arroyo instructed him “to be more aggressive in communicating her governance and to be more responsive to issues raised by the people.”

This last statement maps well onto a conceptualization of good governance that has gained traction in international development over the past few years, i.e., “responsiveness” pertaining to the supply or service delivery side of governance, and “issues raised by the people” referring to the demand side of governance. It is fitting that these were instructions given to the press secretary -- the government’s chief communication officer -- as these two factors in the good governance equation are also essential components of effective government communication. 

To claim their place as legitimate players in evolving public spheres, governments must build and maintain effective communication capacity with constituents: to inform them of priorities, policies, and actions of the government and to better take stock of their needs and preferences.  How much weight to give citizens' preferences in political decision making is a massive debate of Dewey vs.Lippmannesque proportions, for which this space is surely too modest.  Nonetheless, we know from political communication and political psychology that, under certain conditions, fostering a more deliberative public space for multi-stakeholder engagement and informed policy debate have been found to increase the political efficacy of citizens in democratic societies. Increased efficacy, in turn, enables them to exercise more fully their civic and political rights, which include access to public information, freedom of expression, and participation in public affairs.

CommGAP is collaborating with the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University on the ways in which the topic of Government Communication Capacity might be approached and how good practices in this area of work might be shared globally. More on this in the coming weeks.

Photo credit: Flickr user blogefl