Propaganda, Persuasion and Symmetry: Local and Central Government Perspectives on Communicating with the Citizen

The paper gives a brief resumé of the major public relations models and relates these to central and local government communication with the public. It gives central government's perspective on the Citizen's Charter and shows how this translates into a construct of reality based on four perceptions. Next, these four perceptions are subjected to scrutiny from the local government perspective, drawing on the results of a research project undertaken during 1995 on the publication of performance indicators (PIs). The paper concludes by questioning central government's wisdom in trying to prescribe a communications model which does not fit local circumstances.