Issue: How To Talk About Government

Public Briefing Report Series includes summaries of recent How to Talk about Government research.

The How to Talk about Government project is a collaboration of Public Works: the Demos Center for the Public Sector and the Council for Excellence in Government. Together, we have partnered with the FrameWorks Institute to research Americans' perceptions of government and to help us identify effective strategies for communicating the important role of the public sector in our lives. The project's mission is to help renew a shared sense of the government as a vital instrument for achieving common goals.

How to Talk about Government uses a new approach to understanding public opinion-strategic frame analysis, a research process developed by the FrameWorks Institute - which analyzes existing issue "frames" (or deeply held worldviews and assumptions) and recommends effective "reframes" to challenge and supplant damaging stereotypes. Our goal is to use this analytical process to develop useful communication tools to share with organizations that believe American society suffers when public perceptions of government are excessively suspicious and constrained. 

Too often, public policy proposals fall on deaf ears because proposed solutions rely on an active government role; a role that has been actively undercut by anti-government forces. With this project, we hope to learn how to "reframe" the public discourse about the role of government in a way that helps people get beyond simple stereotypes to the underlying proposition that a just and prosperous society requires a government that can address shared concerns and protect the public interest. On the basis of our research, we plan to develop specific recommendations for strategic communications that will strengthen the ability of organizations to make the case for government's role as a necessary investment in our collective well-being. We see the need for a fundamental shift in how government is talked about as part of a larger effort to envision and create a public sector that is able to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Join in our efforts! We are seeking partners who understand how the lack of support for the public purposes of government has hampered success in their work. If you fit this description, join us in exploring how you can integrate the reframing of government into your work, make your communications more strategic, push back against thirty years of anti-government rhetoric, and help to foster a renewal of public purposes.

• Framing Project: How to Talk about Government
  A full project description. View the PDF version.
  
• Why this project/Why now?
  Public trust and support for government's role in our society has suffered a long decline and withering attack. It is time to renew the notion of the public sector as the instrument of our common purposes.
  
• Our Research.
  A description of current and planned research activities with access to published reports and related materials.
  
• What are framing and reframing?
  A brief explanation of the concepts of framing and reframing.
  
• About Us
  Read about Public Works and the Council for Excellence in Government (CEG) and our research partner, the FrameWorks Institute. 
  
• Join our information network
  Join us! Sign in and get updates about the project.  You can also contact us directly at talkaboutgovernment@demos-usa.org.