Public Affairs: Influencing Political Realities

Jochen Hoffmann Karlstad University Department of Media and Communication Studies Public Affairs: Influencing Political Realities Organizational Communication MKGB14 Spring 2010 March 27th, 13:15 15:00 12B150 Public Affairs 1

Structure Defining Public Affairs The Working Process of Public Affairs Public Affairs and Pluralism Public Affairs and Corporatism Challenges to Public Affairs in the 21st Century Public Affairs 2

Public Affairs Refers to Political Communication Politics Politics is the making of generally binding decisions. It is based on power resources like money, knowledge, the state monopoly on force and on (democratic) legitimation. Political Communication Politics in a democracy is dependent on the approval of citizens. It has to be legitimized through communication, whereas interest groups try to influence decisions through communication. Thus, political communication constitutes a public discourse which enables the presentation, justification, explanation and interpretation of political interests and political decisions. The overall goal is influence on political decision-making processes. Public Affairs 3

Public Relations Public Affairs Broad definition for both of them management of communication between an organization and its publics (PR according to Grunig/Hunt 1984: 6) Narrow definitions in the field of politics Political Public Relations Public Player: usually state organizations Activity: mainly media relations Public Affairs Public Player;: usually corporations Activity: mainly lobbying Public Affairs 4

Public Relations as Umbrella Term Public Relations Media Relations Lobbying = Public Affairs Public Affairs 5

Public Affairs as Umbrella Term Public Affairs Media Relations = Public Relations Lobbying Public Affairs 6

The Perspective of Public Affairs: Dealing With Politically Relevant Stakeholders Public Relations Relations with all stakeholders in society Customer Relations Investor Relations Employee Relations Media Relations Political Relations = Public Affairs Public Affairs 7

Defining Public Affairs Public Affairs is a field of activity constituting communications of a public player with politically relevant stakeholders in order to influence political decision-making. Public Affairs 8

The Working Process of Public Affairs Monitor political developments which might effect your organization. Identify the development at an early stage (rapid alert system). Identify discussed and potential policy options. Identify interests of public players, which are or might be involved. Analyse media coverage. Sum up the monitoring and draw conclusions. Select, systematize and interpret the results. Clarify and assess potential consequences of policy options for your organization (e.g. best-case-szenario, worst-case-szenario). Present your results to the management and propose political goals. Develop a public affairs strategy. How can we specify our goals? Which compromises would be acceptable? Who needs to be contacted? Which communication channels do we use? What are our arguments? How do we respond to counter-arguments? What are our power resources? What are we able to offer or to refuse? Implement the strategy. Evaluate the strategy. Public Affairs 10

Discreet Lobbying or Going Public? Resources Money/Know wledge Available Not Available Resource Reputation Available Mixed Strategy Going Public Not Available Discreet Lobbying No Strategy Public Affairs 11

Public Affairs and Pluralism State Interest Representation Interest Group Interest Group Society Interest Group Interest Group Public Affairs 13

Pluralism as a Frame to Justify Public Affairs Normative dimension Minority Rights - Legitimacy of interest + + Number of concerned citizens +? Impact on political decision Unequal distribution of other power resources Free-Riders - - + Power of interest group + Descriptive dimension Public Affairs 14

Public Affairs and Corporatism Definition: Formalized inclusion of a few powerful associations in the decision-making of the state Consequence: Interweavement of society and state through joint decision-making. Role of Public Affairs: As formalized procedures guarantee the influence of interest groups, there is not much need for public affairs as a rather informal communication strategy. Public Affairs 16

Corporatism under Pressure Regional, ideological, and functional diversification of interest groups Associations monopoly of interest representation Fewer memberships in associations Increased direct public affairs by companies Increased number of hired public affairs consultants Public Affairs 17

What Comes After? Pluralism Diversification of political interests Interest Representation in the 21th century Corporatism Interweavement of society and state Public Affairs 19

Modern Public Affairs: Reducing the New Complexities Project Orientation Set up a project team, define a concrete political goal, outline a process with a clear beginning and a clear end. Coalition Building Find partners from different sectors in society who are able to provide an added value to the project. The new interest groups conducting public affairs are projectoriented coalitions crossing the borders of organizations and crossing the borders of different sectors in society. Public Affairs requires the ability to observe, to reflect and to make use of different logics of action related to different spheres of society. It is the management of interdependence. Public Affairs 20