Government Communication: The Essential Function in Governance

Governments across the world continue to play a pivotal role as a prime mover of development. The Government’s role as a development agent is particularly amplified in case of developing countries. These countries face diverse socio-economic developmental challenges that need to be addressed with policy and programme interventions. Governments here are seized with initiating necessary social, legal and economic reforms whose success depends on citizens’ acceptance and participation. It is here that Governments’ communication with citizens to clarify its intent and to call for popular engagement and readiness becomes a critical determinant for successful change. This chapter describes the rationale for Government’s communication with its citizens and other stakeholders and the range of objectives it seeks to achieve. With the focus on developing countries, the Government communication setup and examples from India are discussed in detail. The chapter also delves into the different communication tools that governments use, and discusses the challenges, effectiveness, and future paradigm of government communication.