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