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Government Relations Officer

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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.

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    ndcrn@nd.gov | (701) 328-9733

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