Harvard University professor Barry Burden says he has a lot of respect
for the government relations officers on the front lines of today's political
scene.
"Legislators certainly pay a lot of attention to them," says Burden. "It's
not the slimy relationship most of us think it is. They actually provide a
lot of useful information to government.
"You can imagine if you were a member of Congress trying to decide how
you would spend part of this year's budget, you'd want to hear from all these
groups. You want to know what their priorities are, who's in greater need
and how they spent the money they got last year.
"So [government relations officers] are important information providers.
In that sense, they're not officially part of government, but I think they
play an important role in policy making."
Burden says government relations is complicated and competitive work, which
can be tough to accomplish when everyone else and their uncle wants keys to
the same government coffers.
"It's hard to convince government to give you money because there are so
many people who want a piece of the pie," he says. "It's not that government
thinks that your agency or institution is not worthwhile.
"I'll take the example of someone who's a government relations officer
for a state university, one that gets funding from the government. They want
to continue to get funding and increase it because they'd prefer not to raise
tuition -- they'd rather just have more tax dollars given to them to pay for
improving the buildings or providing more scholarships or raising the pay
of its staff.
"And I think most legislators and bureaucrats think that's a worthwhile
appeal. But they have lots of other agencies and private foundations and localities
asking them for money. And so you really have to devote a lot of time and
resources to reminding the government that you're worthwhile."
Burden makes a point of the distinction between government relations officers
and lobbyists.
"[Government relations officers] are more likely to be non-partisan and
just pursuing their group's interests than thinking about government policy.
They're working more from a self-interest perspective. They'll say, 'Gee,
I want more funding for our group, and I don't care what the government does
the rest of the time, but I just want to make sure there's something in the
budget for us.
"Meanwhile, say, a hired lobbyist for the NRA will care an awful lot about
what government does in all kinds of areas. They'll be constantly following
and fighting legislation related to and even beyond their cause.
"They're going to be worried about shaping government policy in many areas,
whereas the government relations officer just wants to make sure people in
government know about their organization and keep it on their radar screen
and have a favorable impression of it."
Cynthia Wilbanks does just that. She's vice-president for government relations
at Michigan State University. It's her job to ensure her institution gets
the public funds it needs to be successful.
"Government relations professionals do a bit of lobbying, but in most of
your activities you're not really lobbying, you're getting background information
or you're responding to requests from the various constituencies with which
you interact," says Wilbanks.
"You're building relationships with officials at the state and local level,
but that's not necessarily because you're lobbying for something. You're just
trying to keep them informed of what's happening at your institution and of
the issues that are important. It's more educating than it is lobbying."
She says relationships with people in power matter. "By establishing that
[relationship], you have an opportunity to communicate on a regular basis
with those individuals who are in a position to affect outcomes. We achieve
our goals through meetings, correspondence, and through what I'd call a lot
of face time -- that means you are out there personally doing
the work and traveling when necessary to interact with individuals on their
schedules.
"Building relationships doesn't always mean formal meetings where you come
in with your own agenda," she adds. "Often, you get a lot more accomplished
when you sit down informally with politicians and find out what their interests
and concerns are."
John Tomlinson is the government relations officer for Mississippi State
University. An animal scientist before his current position began, Tomlinson
says government relations officers come from almost every background.
"A lot of government relations people have backgrounds as attorneys, educators,
political scientists and public policy-makers," says Tomlinson.
"But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to do it, and I'm living proof
of that! You just have to figure out the process of how a bill becomes a law,
and you can cookbook that pretty easy. But you also have to learn what to
say and when to say it and when not to speak, building your relationships
and solving your problems -- you have to know when to be aggressive and when
to be passive -- when not to get in people's faces."
Government relations officer Louise MacNaughton says the work can be stressful,
but is always rewarding.
"The only disadvantage of it is the fact that it's such high pressure and
stress. There are always changes in government; there's cabinet shuffles and
uncertainty. The success or failure of your work can be based on whether or
not you can accomplish getting one politician to agree with you. It can get
very frustrating.
"But what I like about it is that if people understood the system better
and really understood that there is an ability to make change within the political
system, a lot of the little guys would be able to accomplish a lot more,"
she adds.