Governance Reform under Real World Conditions: A Dialogue on Communication Challenges

This document is a report from the Communication for Governance and Accountability Program (CommGAP) on a workshop of academic researchers which intended to gather knowledge and recommendations on the use of information and communication to support governance reform under real world conditions. The group discussed questions including: how to use political analysis to guide communication strategies in governance reform efforts; how to secure political will for governance reforms; how to build broad, pro-change coalitions; how to help reformers convert indifference or hostility into support for reform objectives; and how to instigate citizen demand for good governance and accountability. Each workshop session is represented in the report by a summary of presentations, approaches and techniques, and participant feedback. Brief summaries of the approaches and techniques recommended by the sessions, and included in this report, are listed below according to session topics.

The first session focused on the use of political analysis in guiding communication strategies in the area of governance reform. It featured theoretical approaches to analysing stakeholder participation, dialogic communication, and the public sphere, as well as practical findings from projects in a developing country context. Approaches suggested included: stakeholder empowerment through dialogic participation; build support through top-down monologic persuasion; stakeholder analysis and use of narrative formats to tell reform stories; legitimation of authority for change; journalistic appraisal of interest groups; and assessment of the place of participation in cultures. The techniques to support these approaches included: multi stakeholder analysis; communication report cards, journalistic interviews; assessing participatory culture; using narrative formats to tell reform stories; interviews that incorporate a combination of closed and open-ended questions; and training programmes that include local stakeholders and are geared toward engaging authorities.

Some principles of good practice included in session one were: the need for stakeholders to agree on the nature and definition of the problem and negotiate a solution; political analyses that begin upstream and continue throughout the project cycle and include assessments of winners and losers; sustainability of reform; sequencing of steps; and risks of conflict within and between communities and sectors.

Session two focused on securing political will, which would be fostered by reform leadership reaching out to political leaders, policy makers, and legislators to garner support for change. Approaches suggested, with techniques for implementation, included:

• Recognise leaders as stakeholders.
• Generate broad acceptance of reform objectives among leaders, while ensuring that middle managers have the ability to carry out reform, and ensuring that organisational structures provide authority to reformers.
• Establish interpersonal linkages by gaining the support of reform champions and connectors.
• Harness public will for reform by using to advantage the dynamics of that agenda building and framing processes, and secure consistent and intensive media coverage.

Further techniques included convincing journalists to support reform objectives through media-friendly messages, persuading leaders to adopt reform, changing organisational structure to allow politicians and managers to carry out reform, enlisting reform champions to raise awareness, and connecting to partners in reform.

The third session addressed public sector middle managers, who are, as stated here, often the strongest opponents of change, focusing on the challenge of gaining their support and fostering among them a stronger culture of public service. Approaches suggested included: appreciative inquiry; "shock therapy", or frank talk; and a combination of monologic and dialogic communication approaches. The techniques to support these approaches suggested inclusion and appreciation of all relevant stakeholders and their expertise. The document suggests creating opportunities for visioning, experimentation, and innovation to frame the dialogue with middle managers positively in order to create forward movement, teamwork, and a sense of collective responsibility. Middle managers need strong signals from their leadership that reform is fully supported; and they need well-defined roles in the reform effort, as well as training in horizontal interactions with other managers to mobilise for reform.

The fourth session explored the issue of how to build broad coalitions of pro-change influentials, and what to do about powerful vested interests. Approaches included focusing on these influentials and on networks and people who connect networks or brokers of relationships who cross organisational boundaries; using broad-based coalitions to get on the policy agenda; and engaging and partnering with civil society in creative ways. The techniques for fostering these approaches included:

• Conducting extensive research to understand the local context;
• Stakeholder mapping;
• Network analysis;
• Issue-framing and branding of a reform initiative;
• Consulting directly with the affected parties;
• Creating a new stakeholder group if needed;
• Conducting information campaigns and regular consultations to promote transparency and ownership;
• Creating multi-stakeholder policy-making groups and independent implementation bodies to ensure ownership and sustainability;
• Linking the issue to change in legislation to create a sense of urgency and momentum for change;
• Training technicians in government to work in networks rather than in isolation; and
• Using information and communications technology (ICT) appropriate to the local context.

The fifth session addressed the issue of how to help reformers transform indifferent, or even hostile, public opinion into support for reform objectives. Approaches and some of the techniques for implementation identified were:

1. Make the case by communicating both the costs of not implementing and benefits of implementing reform; provide citizens easy access to explanations of the reform scheme; communicate in language that is easily understandable; use appropriate communication tools that reach the right people; and, to argue in favour of reforms, use narratives, strategic frames, and trigger devices or "shock" events, such as natural catastrophes, unanticipated human tragedies, technological repercussions, societal imbalance, and ecological change.
2. Develop and express cultural empathy - an understanding of the effects of reform on individuals, by using locally influential people to transmit messages; use opinion research, especially focus groups; use culturally relevant narratives to explain reforms; create participatory reform groups (forums, summits, schools, etc.) to increase awareness about reforms; and use condensation symbols, such as catch phrases, exemplars, and metaphors.
3. Use dialogue to create a participatory environment by using appropriate communication tools that reach the right people; respond to citizen demands and needs; and use ICT to build networks and mobilise people.

The sixth session addressed the issue of how to instigate citizen demand for good governance and accountability. Approaches in this session focused on collective action via citizens’ groups, citizen deliberation on policies, engaging in dialogue, and instigating demands for good governance at the local level with local units of governance. Techniques to carry forward these approaches included: research the local setting in order to frame the issue appropriately; create physical spaces for argument, dialogue, and dissemination of information about governance; mediate the deliberation so that voices are heard, arguments resolved, and objectives are chosen; use the Deliberative Poll technique - a form of public consultation that uses randomly-selected and representative groups of citizens to assess how public opinion would change if they became better informed and more engaged about an issue; engage in consultation with the marginalised members of society; provide citizens training to face the risks of demanding better governance; and use media, such as television programmes, for deliberation and dialogue.


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