Download - Public Information
Public Information
As discussed by
Janet A Weiss
Background On Dr. Weiss
• Professor of Organizational Behavior and Public Policy at Univ. of Michigan
• Widely published in academic journals on role of information in the policy process
• Earned Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard
NHTSA: Click It or Ticket!!
Defining the Tool
• Influence people’s thoughts, knowledge, and behaviors
• Public Information may be :– distributed by the
government– collected by the
government
Assumptions
• People are rational
• People will adjust their behavior based on new information
• Information will reach the targeted audience
• The information will be understood
Dimensions of Public Information
• Directness: info is very versatile -may be direct or indirect -hurricane evacuation or financial disclosure statement• Automaticity: uses channels created for purposes (print, broadcast media,web) -seldom automatic, used to counteract info from other sources
Dimensions continued
• Visibility: seldom require large amounts of money but are highly visible by public
• Coerciveness: mixed feelings
-govt dissemination of info seen as
non-coercive
-govt collection of info may be viewed
as highly restrictive to some
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
• Identifies three categories of federal govt information interventions
1) Counseling or advisory services
2) Dissemination of technical info
3) Training
• According to CFDA, US govt has spent 5 billion – 7 billion per year on information between 1979 and 1999
Samples of US policy
• Truth in Lending
• Environmental Impact Statements
• Hazardous Material Disclosure (OSHA)
• Tobacco Warning Labels
• Nutrition/Food Lables (FDA)
• Freedom of Information Act
Policy Implementation
• Define target audience
• Decide what info will be useful
• Obtain the information
• Deliver the information
• Mobilize social and institutional factors to reinforce desired behavior
When to use public information as a governmental tool
• Problem is caused by information asymmetry
• Targets of the policy are broadly dispersed
• Voluntary compliance is expected
• Broad agreement on desired outcome
• Target behavior is outside realm of governmental action (vices, habits, exercise, food consumption)
Public Information may be ineffective when:
• Uniform compliance with the policy is desired
• Problem is caused by lack of resources
• No information is available regarding the problem (conflict of values or ideology)
Political Challenges
• May be used for the appearance of action without actually delivering results
• May be cheapest alternative
• May be designed to “blame the victim”
• May not be completely honest or forthright
Evaluating Public Information as a Governmental Tool
• Effectiveness:
1) Organizational Reporting-generating specific info within an organization and reporting it to an outside audience
-use of reports by external actors not important
-organization will use own report to internally improve agency (avoid criticism or controversy)
Evaluating Public Information as a Governmental Tool
• Effectiveness continued:
2) Public Information Campaigns-attempt to change what people think in order to change a specific behavior
-difficult to measure effectiveness
(was message received, received by target audience, message understood, was action taken as a result?)
Evaluating Public Information as a Governmental Tool
3) Labeling- designed to promote informed choices under some consideration of the risk involved (health and safety)
-research reveals a well-designed warning or label does seem to be effective in reducing risk taking and increase safe behavior
Evaluating Public Information as a Governmental Tool
• Equity: -may increase inequality between those
with access to information and those without-offers an opportunity to lessen this gap
• Efficiency: -low cost of policy assumes efficiency-efficiency not adequately analyzed in literature. More research required
Evaluating Public Information as a Governmental Tool
• Legitimacy:
-area of high debate
-information and a well informed public is the heart of a democracy
-”tutelary power” of majoritarian government will undermine freedom (Alexis de Tocqueville)
Future Impacts/Conclusions
• Best used in combination with other policy tools
• Focus should be placed on training
• Increased access to information through technology will revolutionize government