Paul ’t Hart Utrecht University

Netherlands School of Government Australia New Zealand School of Government

Regulating public distress

‘Framing’ ‘Performance’ Rituelen en symbolen Wat wordt ‘het verhaal’?

Relentless scrutiny Rumour, speculation, allegation Reputational damage Responsibility pressures Rhetoric of change

Need to be seen & heard: Immediate and incessant desire to know

Need to demonstrate involvement: Being ‘on scene’, ‘in tune’, ‘engaging with people’

Need to shape the frame: Must be authoritative & authentic

Need to deal with ambiguity: Threat & opportunity

Collective stress: dealing with intense emotions (fear, anxiety, anger, loss, grief)

Control: restoring order and predictability to collective behaviour

Commitment: managing psychological contract with society

Consolidation & change: re-examination of status quo

TIMING: CERTAINTY vs TIMELINESS STYLE: COMPETENCE vs EMPATHY COMMITMENT: PROMISE vs PRUDENCE

STRATEGY: DEFENDING vs

PROBLEMATISING STATUS QUO

Style: logos, ethos, pathos

Symbolism: projecting strength/control vs

empathy/fallibility

Identity entrepreneurship: we/it, us/them

Premier Anna Bligh (Qld floods):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfPXmEtyKrA

Ronald Reagan, Challenger http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEjXjfxoNX

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Barack Obama and the Newtown school massacre

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbbQ_noE

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Situational crisis

The ‘tragedy’ script=>

Challenge is to respond & recover

Institutional crisis

The ‘fiasco’ script =>

Challenge is to reassess, repent, reform recapture legitimacy

Regulatory failure: ‘Why did government not

do what it takes to protect us against nature (and ourselves)?’

Preparedness

failure: ‘Why did government not

“see it coming” and get ready to reduce its impact?’

Tragedy, Crime, Corporate Failure:

‘Government is making the best of a terrible situation not of its own making’

Competent

response: ‘Government is doing

what it takes to restore order and control and help those in need’

The universe of restoration Physical world: Signals, shocks, systems Citizens as victims Media report events Actors & arenas: ‘on-site’, line agencies, coordination

centers, commanders, experts Stakes: Shock absorption, community

resilience, reconstruction

The universe of brinkmanship Psycho-political world: Passions, players, positions, programs Citizens as advocates Media frame interpretations Actors & arenas: inquiries, parties, parliaments, agency

heads, spindoctors Stakes: Political & policy implications,

institutional futures

Going public late: looking defensive

Uncontrolled formats: timing, setting, content

Technocracy: Logos only; forgetting pathos

Paternalism: Thinking the public will panic

Aloofness: Not ’being there’

Overpromising: Making impossible commitments

Defensiveness: Don’t let the lawyers control the message

Rely on expertise about human behaviour

(rather than crude assumptions)

Make them look ‘in control’, yet human

Get them to underpromise (so you can overdeliver)

Don’t seek to defend the indefensible or explain

the inexplicable. Get them to own up quickly, fully and genuinely

Spot opportunities in oceans of trouble (so the frame might be exploited or changed)

Have your bottom drawer well-stocked (so the system looks responsive and on the front foot)