The role of Public Relations in helping to create an ambient environment for policy discussions and policy engagement continues to come under focus. This presentation discusses best practice route to attaining that objective.

1. By Bolaji Okusaga
Public Relations in Policy Evaluation and Implementation

2. Content
• Concepts and Contexts
1. Public Policy and Public Relations
• The Role of Public Relations
2. Moving a Policy Agenda to Legislation
• Where is the Convergence?
3. Conclusions

3. 1. Public Policy and Public Relations
CONCEPTS AND CONTEXTS

4. Politics and Public Policy
PUBLIC POLICY DEFINED
• A course of action adopted and
pursued by a government ruler,
political party, etc. (Webster’s
Dictionary)
• Public Policy is an attempt at solving
a problem as well as attain objectives
POLICY AND POLITICS
• Public policy, as a discipline, is rooted
in the study of politics
• Politics is as ancient as Man….

5. EXPANSIVE SCOPE
The scope of public
relation is wide and it
include political and
policy fields.
PLANNING AND
DEVELOPMENT
Public Relations
provides relevant
information on
planning and
developments.
Forging a Link Between Public Relations and Public Policy

6. Why Discuss Public Relations within the Context of Public Policy?
PUBLIC POLICY
• Issues
• Solutions
CATERING TO
PUBLIC
INTEREST
• Stakeholders
• Management of
Expectations
Competition for
Scare Resources
Conflicts
of Interest

7. Contexts of Public Policy
CULTURAL CONTEXT
Norms Customs History
GOVERNING CONTEXT
Rules and institutions
POLITICAL CONTEXT
Partisan dynamics Political system
ECONOMIC CONTEXT
Budget Taxes Inflation Unemployment
SOCIAL CONTEXT
Demographics Socialization and Social Setting

8. Policy Cycle and Public Relations
PROCESS ENGAGEMENT
Identify objectives What problem are we trying to solve?
Identify alternative courses of action for achieving
objectives
In which ways can the problem be solved?
Predict the possible consequences of each alternative What are the likely negative impacts of each solution?
Evaluate the possible consequences of each
alternative
What are the likely options of picking one solution
over the other
Select the alternative that maximizes the attainment
of objectives.
How do we pick the best solution while mitigating any
negative consequence
The objective of every Public Relations activity
is to influence public opinion.
Public Policy aims to solve
a public problem
The ultimate goal is to get people to take positive action for a cause.

9. Approaches to Governance
There are four approaches
to governance:
The market
efficiency
approach
The
performance
efficiency
approach
The
stakeholder
relations
approach
The people’s
influence
approach

10. Themes of Public Policy
Scarcity:
• Trade-offs
Diversity:
• Ideas and
Opinions
Change
Costs and
Benefits
Unintended
Consequences
Crisis

11. Identifying the Impacted Public
Problem
Identification
• Affects
• Objectives / Goals
• Information Gathering
Stakeholder
Analysis
• Allies
• Assets / Constraints
• Opponents
Stakeholder
Management
Process
• Strategy
• Managing
Expectations
• Action Plan

12. Rationality and the Policy Process
VALUES AND WORLD VIEW
• In the policy making process, rational analysis is usually in context: within the
interplay of evidence, value and belief systems of the participants, the structure of
the process, and the distribution of power.
GAME OF INTERESTS
• Most policy analysis are not value neutral.
• There are always interests at play.
MANAGEMENT OF EXPECTATIONS
• This calls for engagement with stakeholders
• That is Public Relations at play

13. Evolution of Lobbying
LEGEND ONE:
• The term is believed to have
originated in British Parliament, and
referred to the lobbies outside the
chambers where wheeling and
dealing took place. Oxford English
Dictionary, believes the term was
used as early as 1640 in England to
describe the lobbies that were open
to constituents to interact with their
representatives.
LEGEND TWO
• The word Lobbying was coined at
Willard Hotel
• President Ulysses S. Grant was in
office (1869-1877). Apparently
President Grant would frequent the
Willard Hotel to enjoy brandy and a
cigar, and while he was there, he’d
be hounded by petitioners asking for
legislative favors or jobs. It is said
that President Grant coined the term
by referring to the petitioners as
“those damn lobbyists.”

14. Definition of Lobbying and Lobbyist
LOBBYING:
To promote or secure the passage of
(legislation) by influencing public
officials
To attempt to influence (a public official)
toward a desired action (Merriam-
Webster)
LOBBYIST:
Any individual who is either employed
or retained by a client for financial or
other compensation whose services
include more than one lobbying
contract; and whose lobbying activities
constitute 20% or more of his or her
services’ time on behalf of that client
during any three-month period (LDA)

15. Public Affairs/Government Relations
Public Affairs is “the management function responsible for monitoring and
managing a corporation’s external environment.”
It always includes government relations, and sometimes community relations
and communications.
Lobbying and advocacy are government relations sub-functions.
Source: Public Affairs Council

16. “Lobbying is Democracy in Action”
Lobbying is modern marketing:
trying to transform a group’s
narrow interest into something
perceived, rightly or wrongly, as
serving the broad public
interest.”
Robert Samuelson
Newsweek Columnist
December 22, 2008
The
Organisation
Opinion
Leaders
Partners
Trade
and
Industry
GovernmentProfessional
Groups
Local
Community
Competition
The Lobbying Environment

17. Case-Study 1
Management of Expectations on the
Petroleum Industry Bill

18. Changing the Way Business is Done in the Oil Industry
The Nigerian
economy is mainly
driven by activities
in the Oil and Gas
sector
Over the years,
there has been
clamour for a
revision of
legislation guiding
the Nigerian Oil
and Gas Industry
A series of
activities have
been carried out
since 2000 and this
has culminated in
the Petroleum
Industry Bill, which
has been revised
several times
without passage
Enter the Petroleum Industry Bill

19. Issues and Possible Outcomes
Critical Areas of Conflict
The Demand
for Stakes by
Local
Communities
Unbundling
of the NNPC
Tax Issues
Possible
divestment
of IOCs

20. Case-Study 2
Addressing the issue of Policy reversals in the
Agriculture Industry – The EEG Debate…

21. The Issues
The Suspension of the
Export Expansion Grant
EEG is a post-shipped
export incentive scheme
designed to encourage non-
oil exporters – especially in
the Agric Sector
The federal government has
suspended the EEG scheme
on suspicion that there
could be some irregularity
or abuse by few exporters

22. Possible Consequences
Effects of
the
Suspension
of the
Policy
Delay and uncertainty in proper implementation of
existing EEG policy is putting the investments in the non-
oil export sector into peril
Employment of thousands of workers in the non – oil
sector is at risk
Strong negative signal for any potential investors
The business environment in Nigeria is being impacted
negatively by government not matching words with action

23. 2. Moving a Policy Agenda to Legislation
THE ROLE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

24. Managing Stakeholder Expectations Around a Public Policy
•What should the promoters of Public
Policy do to get the policy agenda on the
table and get a Bill passed enforcing the
policy?

25. Agenda Setting
THE CONTEXT
Agenda-setting refers to the
power of the media in
defining the focus of its
target as to what is important
in the public domain
Agenda-setting is the
creation of public awareness
and concern on an issue by
the news media.
THE FOCUS
The theory of agenda-setting
is based on two assumptions:
• The press and the media do not
reflect reality; they filter and shape
it
• Media concentration on a few issues
and subjects leads the public to
perceive those issues as more
important than other issues.
THE REASON
To influence a thought
process
To shape opinion
To gain empathy
To compel action

26. The Conceptual Model for Agenda Setting
Personal Experience and Interpersonal Communication
Media Agenda Policy Agenda
Real World Indicators of the Importance of an Agenda, Issue or Event

27. Intensifying the Agenda
Interactive Session
Invite Concerned Parties to an
interactive session
Intimate them with the details of
policy intentions enable them
become advocates
Rationale
Give a face to policy
Keep stakeholders as friends
Enable them make inputs to the bill
Get their buy in

28. Taking a Position
Interview by Promoters of the Policy
• To give credence to the initiatives as well as
profile the provisions of the Policy
Rationale:
• This is to project issues raised by the policy in
the public domain
• It will be an avenue of creating buzz around the
policy and thereby arouse the interest of the
market.

29. Reaching Out
Courtesy Visits
Reaching Out to Critical
Stakeholders within the Policy
Community
The Senate
The House of
Representative
Key Opinion Leaders
Rationale
• The visits will give the policy
promoters an opportunity to
explain the rationale for the
policy and seek buy-in
• The import of these visits is
to generate PR capital,
extract endorsement and
also confer credibility on the
policy

30. Case-Study 3
Influencing Public Policy Decisions:
The National Tobacco Control Bill Issue

31. Introduction
THE PROTAGONIST
• Tobacco Companies seek
to carry-on business
without punitive laws
THE ANTAGONIST
• Anti-Tobacco Groups and
pro-health lobby groups
primary role is to protect
‘public’ safety, health
and welfare and they
usually have the backing
of global donor Agencies
such as Bloomberg and
the Bill and Melinda
Foundation who fund
their operations and are
supported on the policy
side by the World Health
Organisation
THE CLASH OF INTERESTS
• Given the fact that both
parties usually clash on
policy-making platforms,
for sometime now, the
issue of Tobacco Control
has been a irrational,
messy and emotional
subject

32. The Setting
PRO-
BUSINESS
Tobacco Companies are
seeking to prevent the
de-normalisation of their
operating environment
by Anti-Tobacco Groups
PRO-
HEALTH
The Bill was largely
championed by Anti
Tobacco Groups working
with Pro-Health
Legislators

33. The Dynamics
Anti-Tobacco
Group Pressure
Pressure by Anti-Tobacco Group in
the Media and at Tobacco Control
Bill Public Hearing Sessions
advancing the need for Nigeria to
adopt the Framework Convention
on Tobacco Control
Political Lobby
Lobby by Tobacco Companies
essentially centred on the need
for balanced regulation that looks
at all sides to the argument and
considers the economic
implications of stifling business

34. Political Rationality
Policy Paradox, Deborah Stone (2002)
Politics – sphere of
emotion, passion, self-
interest and raw power
Policy-making – an activity
that includes rational
analysis, objectivity,
allegiance to truth, and
pursuit of the well-being of
the society as a whole
Value based
Best solutions are often
balanced trade-offs

35. STRATEGY TYPE INDIVIDUAL STRATEGIES
1. Relationships Coalitions, enlisting support of others, cooperation, information
communication, consultation, use of media, and going public
2. Rational Analysis Health hazards, rational persuasion (informed reasoning), use of
evidence/data, cost-risk assessment, risk analysis, probability/statistics,
etc.
3. Language Create interest in issue, create need, storytelling
4. Power Rules/laws, ambiguity, trade-offs, ingratiation (compliments)
5. Emotion Exploiting focusing events, images to affect feelings about issue, create
schema (schematic) of desired conditions, inspirational appeal, and
emotional appeal
6. Values Equity, citizen rights, health and liberty
Influencing Strategies Discovered

36. Significance/Implications
Model of
Society
Model of
Reasoning
Policy
Decision
Model of
Policy
Making
Model of
Business
Reasoning
Model of
Cause
Reasoning
Public Relations

37. 3. Conclusion
WHERE IS THE CONVERGENCE?

38. The Meat of the Matter…
Public policy in Action
Principally, public policy
is about decision-
making
And the process through
which these decisions
get made, implemented
and evaluated.

39. Some Policy Actors…
• Policy Promoters – Executive
Arm or Private Citizens
• The Parliament
• Interest groups
• Courts
• Consultants
• Opinion Leaders
• Bureaucracies
• Policy Networks and Think
tanks
• Bureaucracies
• Public administrators
• Local Communities
• Business
• Media

40. The Role of Public Relations in Public Policy Evolution and Implementation
Public
Relations
plays in
Public
Policy
Process:
Reducing Uncertainty
Managing expectations
Demonstrating concerns
Building networks
Building trust and commitment
Encouraging involvement through feedback and two-way communication
Prompting task oriented behaviour - ‘walking the talk’
40

41. Lessons Learnt: How to Better Manage Public Policy Interventions Using PR Strategies
Assess the Policy
Environment
Audit the Prevailing
Issues
Establish
Communications
Protocol.
Identify the most
crucial Stakeholders.
Anticipate issues
likely to arise from
Policy Position .
Gauge the strength
of the alternate
position and
Conflicting interest
Develop cogent
proactive, reactive
and counteractive
positions
Obtain feed-back
Be ready to
negotiate
Be open to
compromises
Fine-tune strategy
based on feed-back
and compromise
position adopted
Act to resolve the
contending issues

42. Thank you.