In public relations research, the concept of engagement is often theorized but seldom observed in practice. This research focuses on what public leaders learn when they undertake actions centered on learning by listening to society to implement governmental citizen engagement programs. Taking an inductive grounded approach to data analysis which draws on tools and methods of grounded theory as well as including a review of key concepts from public relations literature, a reflexive analysis of an action learning intervention involving the members of a provincial government was conducted. Results show that, when reflecting on interaction with stakeholders of the program, government members: increase their knowledge about both sides of the public organization-society relationship; become more sensitive to what listening is and implies, and, hence, more supportive of two-way communication; are challenged about the authenticity of the motivations behind their listening; become more aware of ways in which they work to build social capital; and, subsequently, increase their willingness to act together with society. This paper shows that reflection on the real implementation of engagement programs gives policy makers a better understanding of normative assumptions, and hence it instantiates public relations theories and concepts about engagement. By identifying acting-by-listening as integral to citizen engagement, it presents implications for the study and practice of public relations in public sector organizations.
1. Introduction: looking at the practice of citizen engagement
This research examines the practical implementation of concepts that are mostly addressed on a theoretical level in public relations research. More specifically, it studies what public leaders learn when they attempt to listen to society in order to implement governmental citizen engagement programs. It is frequently claimed that “engaging” is one of public relations practitioners’ core duties. For example, the Melbourne Mandate contains a proposition on how PR professionals and professional bodies might better represent and promote their roles: “Public relations and communication professionals have a mandate to build a culture of listening and engagement” (Global Alliance, 2012; Gregory, 2015). But what does such a culture imply, and what does it mean for the practice of public relations? This research was possible because a public authority within the provincial government of Gipuzkoa, Spain, decided to undertake a learning process focused on experiencing and practicing an openness to listen to society in order to improve the way in which it was implementing a government engagement program. The whole governmental body (twelve senior politicians) agreed to take part in an intervention with the explicit purpose of “learning by listening to society.” This provided a great opportunity to explore what really happens when policy makers put into practice normative assumptions and concepts such as listening that, together with others like interaction, involvement, relationships, dialogue, openness, and two-way communication, have been the subject of extensive theorization in the context of engagement (Dhanesh, 2017; Jelen-Sanchez, 2017). The attempts by public sector organizations to engage citizens in public management has been regarded as a key area of theory and practice in public relations (Canel & Luoma-aho, 2019; Johnston, 2010; Johnston & Lane, 2018, 2019). In fact, the literature stresses the role of relationships in community-engagement attempts (Johnston & Lane, 2018, 2019; Piqueiras, Canel, & Luoma-aho, 2020; Taylor & Kent, 2014; Willis, 2012; Yang & Callahan, 2005; Yang & Taylor, 2013), on the basis that engaging requires continuous interactions (Bowden et al., 2016: 270). Relationship management, increasingly linked to public relations (Ihlen, 2005), can contribute to the creation of an environment of mutual trust, reciprocity, and engagement (Sommerfeldt, 2013: 285). The engagement program that is the focus of this research was established after the public authority identified what the literature categorizes as a crisis of citizens’ trust in public sector organizations, and it is part of a huge body of interventions that governments across the world are undertaking in an attempt to close breaches between them and society (Gelders & Ihlen, 2010a, 2010b; Sanders & Canel, 2015). There is even literature that already indicates that the pandemic has highlighted the need to “reconnect voices” to regain trust (Lovari, D’Ambrosi, & Bowen, 2020), underlining the role of public relations in developing public engagement and participatory democracy (Bartoletti & Faccioli, 2020; Chon, Lee, & Kim, 2020). Building citizen engagement is one course of action that might help to bridge these gaps by establishing common ground and fostering mutual understanding (Canel & Luoma-aho, 2019, 2020). Whether public leaders learn about establishing common ground and fostering mutual understanding when implementing an engagement program is what is explored in this paper. The structure of this study is as follows. First, the context and methodology is presented. Second, the theoretical framework is introduced. Finally, the paper discusses the findings and present conclusions, additionally giving consideration to their implications for public relations research and practice.
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