AN ASSESSMENT OF PUBLIC RELATIONS STRATEGY AS A TOOL TO PROMOTE GOVERNEMENT POLICIES TO THE CITIZENRY; THE PRACTICE OF ANAMBRA STATE GOVERNMENT
ABSTRACT
The research provides a theoretical and conceptual assessment of public relations strategy as a tool to promote government policies to the citizenry; it appraises as a case study the practice of the Anambra State Government. The research elucidate the concept of public relations, its functions, significance and strategies as it can be applied to implement and accelerate government policies to the benefit of the citizenry.
INTRODUCTION
The government as an institution is an organization and can only succeed when it maintains mutual lines of communication between itself and its citizenry. Public relations in government in brief, is the concerted neorts
of the government officials to establish appropriate and effective communication system that
enables them to produce, project and sustain government’s goals, aspirations, programmes, activities and policies to reach the ultimate beneficiaries of the programmes, in most cases, the community. Public relations is employed in various ways to help the government to establish mutual lines of communication for faithful
exchange of ideas and perspectives between it and the governed and also, to create image for the government, both locally and internationally . p.1). Nwosu (1996,p.204) says that:
Whether military or civilian, government must have the support and acceptance of the citizenry to be eective
and to even survive for a reasonable period. In theory and in practice, every government derives its legitimacy or rights to govern from the people or citizens. In a true democracy, government is voted in by
the people to hold power, influence and control on behalf of the collectivity, of the masses or citizenry
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Johnson and Zawawi (2004,p.404) observes that public relations sector in modern democratic governance implements its policies by using various mass media. Government management takes two forms; dissemination of political information and dissemination of public information. Nwosu (1996,p.204)
however opines that very oen, many people in government, especially those in developing countries, seem to forget the relevance of public relations in the government circle and as a result, they operate as if they can do without the support and the acceptance of the citizenry. They run state aairs as rulers or
feudal lords, instead of leaders or servants of the people, for whom they hold political power and trust. But the theory and practice of modern governance teaches that government, like any other social institution, must be accountable to the people and operate in the people’s interest. Black (1976,p.140) says that public relations is an essential part of management and this is true in central government as in industry. The function of public
relations in government is essentially non-political.
