Whether it's the Internal Revenue Service or the local police department, every person's life is affected by how public organizations handle information. New technologies are inundating us with data-agencies collect, store, analyze and disseminate information. How organizations manage this information is crucial to their effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability.
It is becoming more difficult for public organizations to formulate clear messages. Political pressure from elected officials and public scrutiny make the task of managing communication even more daunting. By helping students see how communication networks must be treated within larger psychological, cultural, and mechanical contexts, Graber presents ways to construct effective channels so information is transmitted to the appropriate audiences, linking policy decisions and feedback from citizens. Blending the best of theory and practice, The Power of Communication helps both students and practitioners turn a flood tide of information into an asset, rather than a menace, to good government.
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Table of Contents
Tables, Figures, Boxes
Preface
1: The Past as Prologue for the Future: Theories and Applications
Communicating in Organizations:Basic Concepts
Why Information and Communication Management is Crucial
The Foundations of Organizational Communication Studies
2: Building Information Bases: Resources and Obstacles
Information Needs
Information-Gathering Strategies
Shielding Sensitive Information
Surmounting Information Hurdles
Judging Information Quality and Quantity
Intelligence Disasters
3: Channeling Bureaucratic Information Flows
The Interface of Structure and Function
Structuring Information Flows
Bureaucratic Structure Handicaps
The Direction of Communication Flows
4: Constucting Networks
The Whys and Hows of Network Formation
Network Analysis
The Significance of Network Positions
Network Roles
5: Designing Climates and Accomodating Cultures
Organizational Climates
Organizational Cultures
How New Communication Technologies Transform Bureaucracies
6: Foundations for Sound Decisions
Managing Information Flows
The Four Phases of Decision Making
Common Decision-Making Errors
Error Avoidance Strategies
Designing Structures for Decision Making
Making Routine Decisions
7: Refocusing on Serving the Public
Citizen's Contacts with Government
Accountability and Responsiveness
The Wellsprings of Unresponsiveness
Information Transmission Difficulties
The Evaluation Puzzle
Seeking Citizen Advice
8: Public Relations and Public Information Campaigns
The Jekyll and Hyde Faces of External Communication
Public Relations Strategies
Structuring Public Relations Agencies
Media Relations
Public Information Campaigns
9: Vistas of a Likely Future
Bridges from the Past
Bridges to the Future
Research Needs
Index
Reviews
“Doris Graber provides students with an engaging and valuable introduction to the role that information plays in government organizations. Her book offers a comprehensive and contemporary account of how public sector bureaucracies communicate both internally and externally, one that combines sharp analysis with illustrative examples. I can think of no better place to start for learning about the crucial interaction that goes on between the two 'fourth branches' of government - public administration and the news media.”
- Bartholomew Sparrow, University of Texas, Austin
Bio(s)
Doris A. Graber, University of Illinois at Chicago
Doris Graber is professor of political science at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has written and edited numerous articles and books on the media and public opinion, including Media Power in Politics, Fifth Edition (2006), The Power of Communication: Managing Information in Public Organizations (2003), and Processing Politics: Learning from Television in the Internet Age (2001), which won the 2003 Goldsmith Book Prize. This award is given by the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.
