How Government Relations and Public Affairs Work Together

October 16, 2019

Government relations and public affairs are very similar. They have many overlapping characteristics but also offer some different services that could help your organization. These two services working together can create impactful results on your organization as a whole. 

Government Relations Overview

Government relations is the process of influencing public policy on a local, state, national, and even global scale. The goal of government relations is to persuade government officials to change or maintain a policy, usually one that fits the needs of your organization. An organization can hire government relations experts to use their relationships with key decision makers to push the organization’s agenda forward.

Public Affairs Overview

Public affairs involves more than just the government. It’s a service that helps an organization interact with legislators, interest groups, and the media. Public affairs is more external than government relations. It deals more broadly with public policy issues and works to find solutions to problems. Public affairs specialists act as a liaison between an organization and the media, community, and government. 

Government relations and public affairs working together

Government relations and public affairs services can often come from the same team. One of the core pillars in public affairs is government relations. A team of experts can craft an effective strategy, which defines your organization’s issues, identifies important legislation, and uses the relationships with decision makers and the community to achieve positive results for an organization. Think of government relations and public affairs like a two-step process. When legislation is impacting an organization, government relations may be a necessary aid and then public affairs would be needed to communicate with stakeholders, the media, and the public on the issue. On the reverse side, if a community presents an issue, a public affairs team must find a solution and may interact with government to persuade a decision in favor of the organization’s agenda.

The team of experts at Public Strategies Impact in Trenton, New Jersey can benefit your organization on all fronts. Government relations and public affairs are just a few of the ways that Public Strategies Impact can achieve results for your organization. If you could benefit from these services, we’d love to discuss the possibilities with you. Reach out to us via email at info@njpsi.com or by calling 609-393-7799.

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