Government and Public Relations

1. Government and Public Relations Introduction to Public Relations School of Communication Studies James Madison University Dr. Michael Smilowitz

2. What to expect? • Describe those PR activities that involve clients and the government. • Discuss lobbying and grass roots lobbying. • Describe the PR activities of government itself.

3. PR practitioners are involved in: • Environmental issues programs • Political and issue advocacy campaigns • Grassroots organizing and advocacy • Letter-writing campaigns • Advocacy advertising

4. Public Relations and Government Public relations practitioners: • Monitor government activity. • Research public opinion on political issues. • Disseminate information about government actions and pending legislation. • Plan and execute political strategies.

5. Monitoring government activity • Trade associations, representing particular professions and industries, have offices in the nation’s capital and many state capitals. • Review pending legislation. • Attend and report on legislative actions. • Maintain contact with regulatory agencies. • Many large companies maintain offices in national and state capitals to monitor their interests.

6. Researching public opinion • Monitoring of media’s treatment of controversial political issues that may affect the client’s present and future profitability and growth. • Sampling target publics. • Arranging focus groups of political constituents.

7. Disseminating information • Visits to legislators or regulatory administrators. • Testimony at public hearings. • Preparation of position papers. • Placement of advocacy advertisements. • Production of advocacy videos.

8. Planning and executing political strategies. • Forming/assisting citizen advisory groups. • Communicating with employees and shareholders. • Arranging for visits of politicians. • Providing public education programs. • Campaigning, especially fundraising.

9. Lobbying According to Seitel, a lobbyist is an individual who is paid by a third party to influence individuals in the executive and legislative branches of the federal government.

10. Lobbying From the Center for Responsive Politics based on data from the Senate Office of Public Records.

11. Lobbying Do these numbers really say billion? From the Center for Responsive Politics based on data from the Senate Office of Public Records.

12. Lobbying – The Big Spending Industries Pharmaceuticals/Health Products 2,323,394,297.00 Insurance 1,659,760,574.00 Electric Utilities 1,555,710,459.00 Business Associations 1,290,793,552.00 Computers/Internet 1,261,414,957.00 Oil & Gas 1,223,869,210.00 Education 1,088,890,505.00 Misc Manufacturing & Distributing 1,067,890,931.00 Hospitals/Nursing Homes 1,000,073,611.00 Civil Servants/Public Officials 956,045,810.00 TV/Movies/Music 937,718,664.00 Real Estate 920,866,353.00 Securities & Investment 903,207,613.00 Health Professionals 882,840,942.00 Amounts spent between 1998 and 2011. From the Center for Responsive Politics.

13. Lobbying Both major political parties are recipients. From the Center for Responsive Politics.

14. Lobbying • To control “influence peddling” in 1995 Congress passed a lobbying reform act. • Lobbyists must register with congress, and report their clients, the issues they are attempting to influence, and their fees. • Lobbyists cannot buy meals for congressional members unless 25 or more people are present. • Senators cannot receive gifts worth more than $50, or free travel to special events.

15. Lobbying • The 1995 legislation had little, if any, impact on lobbyists. • Each year, especially in campaign years, political commentators and government officials called for further restrictions. But hardly anyone believed lobbying could be controlled. • In 2007, McCain and others led the passage of legislation that made lobbying more “transparent.”

16. Lobbying • To provide “transparency” Congress passed the “Honest Leadership and Open Government Act” of 2007. • Disclosure of campaign contributions for any federal elected official, candidate, leadership PAC or national political party. • Disclosure of payments to Presidential libraries, Inaugural Committees or entities controlled by or named for Members of Congress. • All earmarks be identified on an Internet Senate site at least 48 hours before Senate votes. “Dead of night” additions to conference reports require a 60-vote point of order. Senators must certify that they and their immediate family members have no financial interest in the earmark.

17. Lobbying • To provide “transparency” Congress passed the “Honest Leadership and Open Government Act” of 2007. • Prohibits Senators and their senior staff must now wait two years before they can lobby Congress. • Increases civil and criminal penalties for knowingly and corruptly violating lobbying disclosure rules.

18. Lobbying • To provide “transparency” Congress passed the “Honest Leadership and Open Government Act” of 2007. • Prohibits Members of Congress from attending national political convention parties held in their honor and paid for by lobbyists or their clients. • Prohibits lobbyists and their clients from giving gifts, including free meals and tickets, to Senators and their staffs. • Bars lobbyists and their private-sector clients from paying for multi-day travel trips by Senators and their staffs. Bars House candidates from accepting trips on private planes.

19. Grass Root Lobbying Rather than directly lobbying legislators and regulators with paid agents, grass root lobbying is aimed at mobilizing constituents to contact and influence their representatives and government officials. Tools include: • Local group meetings. • Phone banks with toll-free phone lines. • Form letters, and Email.

20. Governmental Public Relations No such thing!

21. Governmental Public Relations Hum….these seem to be public relations activities!!! Instead of public relations, governments have offices of: • Public Information. • Public Affairs. • External Affairs. • Public Awareness.

22. Governmental Public Relations The reason for these euphemisms are laws that prohibit the government from “public relation activities.” • Early in the 20th century, Congress passed laws to restrict governmental agencies from hiring “publicity experts.” • Later, executive departments were required to use the U.S. Printing office so that publications can be monitored. • In the 70s, Congress required that no part of an appropriation bill can be used for publicity designed to support or defeat legislation.

23. Governmental Public Relations In spite of the restrictions, the federal government employs more than twelve thousand people, and spends more than two billion dollars on activities very much like that done by private public relation practitioners.

24. Functions of Governmental PR • To disseminate information regarding the passage of laws and regulations, and their enforcement. • To encourage beneficial behaviors (discourage non-beneficial behaviors). • To promote support of governmental actions and programs. • Defense spending •Energy policies • Foreign policies