Communications

Should Ministerial staff reveal their affiliations when commenting on political matters online?

Much of Australia’s population doesn’t realise there is a difference between Australia’s public servants, who are employed and work for the state in an apolitical fashion, and Ministerial and other political advisers and staff, who are employed and work directly for politicians and political partie. However there is a crucial difference at the moment asRead… Read more »

What a Twitter map can and cannot tell: The Gates Foundation Twitter network

The Twitter network below was created by Marc Smith, Social Media Research Foundation. He used it in a recent workshop on Social Media Network Analysis that I organized here at Syracuse University on January 19-20. I picked it up and posted it here on my Social Media in the Public Sector blog, because it relatesRead… Read more »

Less TV, more Internet

The first Google Plus Hangout from The White House with a sitting president was watched by hundreds of thousands of people* online earlier tonight. My immediate takeaway? The forum featured real questions on significant issues, with genuine citizen-president interactions, with back and forth conversation. That was precisely the promise of the platform that I consideredRead… Read more »

What’s a Filibuster?

There is no such thing as a “filibuster-proof majority” In his State of the Union address to Congress last week, President Barack Obama asked the U.S. Senate to amend or abolish its filibuster rules to break the Congressional gridlock. Don’t hold your breath. Neither party wants to change those rules because they always benefit theRead… Read more »

Does Citizen Participation Work?

As federal agencies tighten their belts, they’ll be questioning the value of citizen participation initiatives under the Obama Open Government Initiative. Do they lead to better results or reduced costs? A new report, “A Manager’s Guide to Evaluating Citizen Participation,” by Tina Nabatchi, an assistant professor at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, is designedRead… Read more »

Should Ministerial staff reveal their affiliations when commenting on political matters online?

Much of Australia’s population doesn’t realise there is a difference between Australia’s public servants, who are employed and work for the state in an apolitical fashion, and Ministerial and other political advisers and staff, who are employed and work directly for politicians and political partie. However there is a crucial difference at the moment asRead… Read more »

Social Media: Is it Worth it?

As the Information Age progresses and is still in its infancy, the transfer of information has become nearly instant. Government has been using Twitter and Facebook to connect with its constituents, though some say that social media in government is unnecessary. Others suggest that government should serve citizens the best way possible, including utilizing socialRead… Read more »

State & Local Pension Investments Grow, Recovery Continues, & GovCon Prospects Improve

Deltek Sr. Analyst Chris Cotner reports. The U.S. Census rather quietly produced a report this month on public employee retirement systems. Overall, pension news is very good and improving, with balances improving in FY 2010 after two straight years of losses. For FY 2010, cash and investment holdings for state-administered pensions increased to $2.2 TrillionRead… Read more »