Indian Ministries Through Twitter - Citizen Engagement With - CPC Analytics
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Contents What Can Be Expected From Citizen Engagement With Indian Ministries Through Twitter...........................................................................3 Case Study: Ministry of External Affairs .............................................................. 6 Case Study: Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare ............................10 Case Study: Ministry of Communications ......................................................... 14 Case Study: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change ...........17 Case Study: Ministry of Finance...........................................................................20 Case Study: Ministry of Power.............................................................................. 24 Case Study: Ministry of Health & Family Welfare ...........................................28 Case Study: Ministry of Railways......................................................................... 32 Case Study: Ministry of Urban Development ..................................................36 Case Study: Ministry of Tourism ..........................................................................40 Primary Takeaways ................................................................................................ 43 Policy Recommendations .....................................................................................45 Conclusions, Limitations & Steps For The Future .........................................46 Ministry Specific Highlights .................................................................................. 47 Bibliography ...............................................................................................................48 Conceived and compiled by: Jonathan Rummel j.rummel@cpc-analytics.com Sahil Deo s.deo@cpc-analytics.com With inputs from: Abhay Kulkarni abhay@medianext.in Acknowledgements Sanaaya Kurup Sanjana Krishnan Anand Agashe Amit Tekale Rahul Phuge
What Can Be Expected From Citizen Engagement With Indian Ministries Through Twitter Objective The primary purpose of this report is to determine the behavioral consequences of e-governance communication strategies used by 10 randomly selected Indian ministries. The reason for this research is to address the rise of Twitter accounts in India and the potential impact that will have on policies and government administrational habit. As such, the following questions have been proposed: What models of civic engagement and organizational learning are currently in use by the selected Indian Ministries? What patterns or trends in Twitter engagement can be attributed to these models? What behavior should be expected from citizens when exposed to such activities? Each case study will look at these three questions through a contextual analysis of responsibilities and Twitter content so as to ensure proper deference towards each ministries’ unique responsibilities. There will be 3 sections to the report. The first provides considers the growing Twitter trends in India and their past impact on Indian politics. It will then progress into a brief explanation on the theories and methodology framing the overall analysis. The second section consists of 10 case studies detailing the findings from the overall analysis. Finally, the report will conclude with general observations and recommendations for all ministries within the Indian government. Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com 3
Indian Background & Context Civic engagement is a central concern of democracies and the rise of ICTs has not dissuaded that concern. In fact, e-governance platforms such as social media accounts that initiate dialogue with citizens are said to represent an important evolution in that regard.1 Recent studies have shown that such programs can increase public satisfaction2 with public services and increase feelings of transparency and accountability.3 This is particularly important for the Indian government and Modi administration who have made anti-corruption a central component of their government policies. As current estimates suggest internet usage will rise to 720 million by 2020, this is an ideal time to develop these platforms. At the moment, there are signs that Twitter popularity is only increasing as Prime Minister Narenda Modi has increased his Twitter following by 24 million accounts in Table 1 Ministry Classifications only three years. Recognizing that these platforms could be utilized to connect to voters and constituents in an Category Definition entirely new way, the Modi government has even issued directives for all ministries and Ministers to integrate To understand one or more aspects of Twitter into their communication strategies.4 As of today, the public and social policy process, almost every single ministry has achieved this goal, with Policy Oriented including decision making and policy some taking it a step further by integrating customized formulation, implementation, and analytics and response programs such as ‘Twitter Seva’ evaluation. into their day-to-day operating procedures.5 Online communities and trends have developed around Co-ordination of activities of various these policies, leading to memes like “10 Ways Sushma Coordination, Central Government Agencies, State Swaraj Saved The Day.”6 While there are positives to supervision Governments/UTs and the Private such environments there are also risks that need to be oriented Sector for the development and considered in order to preserve the public’s engagement promotion of its core activity and trust. Responsible for managing and Methodology and Theory Service delivery delivering a range of quality services There are three aspects that will be used to define function to their communities, such as public how ministries interact with citizens. To begin with, health, recreational facilities, etc. the backgrounds of each ministry will be assessed and classified within one of five possible categories. As seen The core activities of the government in Table 1, specific definitions enable the classification Support are supported with the assistance functions of a strong body of support function 1 (Thomas and Streib 2003) ministries. 2 (Welch, Hinnant, and Moon 2004) Regulatory agencies serve two 3 (Bertot, Jaeger, and Grimes 2010a) Regulatory primary functions in the government: 4 (Rajeev Sharma 2014) functions they implement laws and they enforce 5 (Sharma 2016) laws. 6 (Dawood 2015) Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune 4 www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com
of ministries within these case studies. This will allow for arguably maintains the status quo.13 The second system is each ministry to be evaluated on its own context, instead known as ‘double-loop’ learning and differs from the former of purely by comparison to its peers. method by allowing information to flow from a complex The underlying theory of ‘Social Media Logic’ is what network of sources to better address complex questions.14 provides the initial framework for this entire report. In this form of organizational learning, citizens can engage According to Djick and Poell, social media represents a with ministries to determine not just what policies they are dramatic shift in the way that information is conveyed working on but why the ministry behaves in the way that in societies.7 Whereas in the past, governments and it does; it allows them to question the actual operating media organizations existed as the proprietary sources of procedures of the government.15 information, social media has allowed for a much more As these systems are adapted, certain models of complex system in which individuals can now not only citizen interaction fit more apprioriately with certain impact but dictate information.8 The second principle priorities. This paper will look at ‘Managerial’, ‘Consultative’ of social media logic discusses how the ability to assign and ‘Participatory’ models. The first focuses on one-way “popularity algorithms”, such as likes and retweets on communication from a government actor to the public. Twitter, empowers and legitimizes those who can amass The focus is on increasing the efficiency and satisfaction a large enough volume of interactions.9 Inevitably, this of public services. This most commonly utilizes a ‘single- allows for individuals and movements to advocate loop’ learning system. The ‘Consultative Model’ moves government reforms purely through the democratic beyond services and instead aims to engage the public on legitimacy developed by means of assembling large online a wide array of topics to crowd-source public opinion. This communities and sentiments.10 information is then utilized in policy making to better match These communities are not guaranteed products of citizens’ mindsets. This too commonly uses ‘single-loop’ Twitter use, however. They require an environment in learning. Finally, the ‘Participatory Model’ thrives through which discourse can be encouraged to occur. This is where ‘double-loop’ learning where information originates from organizational learning theory takes form. The fundamental multiple sources and used by multiple sources to enact concept behind this theory is that there are two types of government change. information systems that allow individuals to engage and Each of the ministries analyzed in this report will be learn about an organization.11 One systems is known as evaluated through these theories. Additionally, tweets ‘single-loop’ learning and revolves around government collected in a proprietary system developed by CPC- agencies controlling the flow of information in order to ask Analytics will be subset and randomly selected for a questions such as, “is this service efficient and what could quantitative analysis of likes and retweets. The standard be improved?”12 This is commonly used by bureaucratic deviation of these ‘popularity’ measures will demonstrate actors as it does not require dramatic innovation and the consistency of interaction with tweets from the ministries’ respective Twitter handles. 7 (Van Dijck and Poell 2013) 8 (Reddick, Chatfield, and Ojo 2017) 13 (Argyris 1976) 9 (Bertot, Jaeger, and Grimes 2010a) 14 (Macintosh n.d.) 10 (Bertot, Jaeger, and Grimes 2010a) 15 (Im, Porumbescu, and Lee 2013) 11 (Gilson, Dunleavy, and Tinkler 2009) 12 (Reddick, Chatfield, and Ojo 2017) Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com 5
Case Study: Ministry of External Affairs Abstract: As a cabinet-level agency, the Ministry of External Affairs maintains two Twitter handles, @MEAIndia and @SushmaSwaraj. Through an analysis of a random subset of Tweets, each account will be evaluated within a specific organizational learning model. This is done by categorizing their respective tweets to determine the impact on citizen engagement. Both accounts boast millions of followers; however, engagement trends differ leading rise to possible pitfalls in communication strategies that will be discussed given mathematical evaluation of Tweet demographic data. What are the primary responsibilities of the ministry? Ministry of External Affairs fulfills this vital role as a cabinet-level ministry that manages all relationships with foreign states and fellow commonwealth nations, while simultaneously maintaining and increasing ties with the United Nations, specialized agencies, IGOs and international conferences.16 Additionally, the MEA assists Indian citizens abroad and domestically in international issues. By acting on behalf of the nation in these situations it may present an opportunity for citizens to voice how they believe India should present itself to the world. How can those responsibilities be classified within our 5 categories framework? Enabling international and cross-governmental discourse requires an enormous level of coordinative skill and policy making prowess. However, most policies require collaborative work within the Cabinet and the PMO, not purely citizen demand. Programs like aiding 16 (Parliament of India 2014) Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune 6 www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com
Indian citizens abroad, coordinating international student programs and passport distribution are more appropriate in that regard. This is due to the trend that shows citizens increase demands once effectively engaged via e-initiatives;17 such an occurrence poses a high level of risk in international relations. As a result, the MEA will be evaluated under the policy-oriented and service-delivery categories. What model of citizen engagement/organizational learning would be most appropriate given this ministry’s responsibilities? The communication strategies that a ministry uses with certain demographics sometimes can and probably should change depending on the demographic itself. As far as the MEA’s Twitter engagement with citizens is concerned, attention to the public services rendered needs to be frequent and responsive. At first glance, this would suggest a ‘Participatory’ engagement model where citizens can produce information that the MEA must respond to and act upon. In reality, that may not be the most fruitful method. The primary interaction that citizens have with the MEA is through services like abroad assistance, passports and the like which requires vast amounts of information that citizens normally do not have the means to collect. As such, it may be in the best interest of the ministry to utilize a managerial engagement model, in order to maximize service delivery and efficiency. Twitter Analysis: Date Twitter Handle # of Tweets # of Followers Joined There is a distinct different between both MEA Twitter @MEAIndia Dec-11 14.2K 1.32M handles. Taking office in May of 2014, @SushmaSwaraj has soared to a following of 7.71 million Twitter accounts. @SushmaSwaraj Nov-10 5,001 7.71M Meanwhile, @MEAIndia joined the Twitter community in December 2011 and only has 1.4 million followers, despite Table 2 a longer presence and substantially more tweets. Twitter Demographic Information for the MEA Looking at Table 1, the Minister seems to be more popular, but why? To understand this distinction the Tweets from each account have been categorized per the framework addressed in the methodology. The most common types of Tweets from both accounts are ‘Announcements’ discussing past, present, or future events. However, the next highest categories differ. While the Ministry seems to prefer‘Quotes’related to 17 (Reddick, Chatfield, and Ojo 2017) Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com 7
Ministry of External Affairs Tweets by Category Quote Response Reminder Information Greetings Feedback Congratulations Advocacy Announcement 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 @MEAIndia @SushmaSwaraj Table 3 % share of Tweets from each MEA Twitter Handle within certain categories www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com their mission or ‘Greeting’ to community members they’ve interacted with, only the Minister has a substantial ‘Response’ rate. In fact, almost 25% of her tweets could be considered a direct response to an Indian constituent. What model IS being used in the Ministry’s Twitter handles? As previously mentioned, both of the official accounts for the MEA share ‘Announcements’ as their most common type of Tweet (43% - @MEAIndia, 35% - @ SushmaSwaraj). This is consistent with a ‘Managerial Model’ where information is presented to the public in a ‘single loop learning’ manner.18 Emphasis isn’t on whether a certain policy should exist, but how citizens can best take advantage of such policies. However, the Minister’s large percentage share of ‘Response’ tweets displays a ‘Participatory Model’. Tweets asking for assistance with MEA services such as repatriation of family remains, lost passport support and expatriate community aid are asked of the Minister herself, requiring new internal communication strategies and prompt policy action. 18 (Reddick, Chatfield, and Ojo 2017) Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune 8 www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com
What behavior and or perception can this nurture? Social Media thrives off of the idea that individuals Managerial Consultative Participatory can control or, at least, affect the flow of @MEAIndia Æ Managerial Engagement Model information.19 @MEAIndia, when compared to @ SushmaSwaraj, is experiencing one of the obstacles that come with a ‘Managerial Model’: incentivizing citizen engagement. The statistics of the ministry’s Managerial Consultative Participatory received likes and retweets shows a consistent level @SushmaSwaraj Æ Participatory Engagement Model of engagement due to the low standard errors and high averages. The Minister best exemplifies a ‘Participatory Table 4 Engagement Model.’ These types of models allow Civic Engagement Model Slider citizens to set agendas for government actors to address and can be seen in the various ‘Response’ Tweets from www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com Twitter Handle Likes Minister Swaraj assisting Indian constituents. STD. Likes Retweets Retweets However, ‘Participatory Models’ are not fully ERROR Mean STD.ERROR Mean understood as of yet and it is still unclear what @MEAIndia Low High Low High specifically facilitates civic engagement and concurrent @SushmaSwaraj Medium Very High Medium High interaction. This is shown by @SushmaSwaraj’s larger standard errors of received likes and retweets. Table 5 This shows that Twitter engagement can be more Standard deviation of Tweets’ likes and retweets inconsistent. Summary In conclusion, the MEA Twitter handles do seem to focus their efforts on service delivery and policy updates. While there is some crossover, the @MEAIndia account revolves more around policy updates through its ‘Managerial Model’ while @SushmaSwaraj manages public services in a larger volume via its ‘Participatory Model.’ The theoretical pitfalls of such dels are consistent with the reality of each Twitter Handle, each experiencing relatively low engagement and sporadic engagement respectively. This isn’t necessarily bad but is something to understand and requires analysis to prepare communication going forward. 19 (Van Dijck and Poell 2013) Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com 9
Case Study: Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Abstract: As one of the cabinet-level ministries within India, the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare boasts responsibilities ranging from information delivery, agricultural analytics, economic development/ empowerment and more. As a ministry with two Twitter handles, both will be evaluated to consider the different civic engagement styles and their respective yields. This will be shown through categorizing a subset of tweets from the last year from each Twitter handle to identify the trends coming from each account. What are the primary responsibilities of the ministry? However, for the purposes of this case study the primary responsibilities will be referenced via three principle mandates: policy development and administration of agricultural produce regulations, cooperation and implementation of decisions made at international conferences, and fostering cooperation between the agricultural sector and other industries. As of 2010, these activities directly impacted around 50% of the estimated 500 million + Indian work force, thus warranting an analysis on citizen engagement.20 How can those responsibilities be classified within our 5 categories framework? In a sense, it could be argued that this ministry falls under a service delivery context due to innovative e-administration platforms like the “Farmers’ Portal.” This database can empower farmers with information on crop prices, competitive seasonal indexing and even local suppliers of capital tools/supplies. Services like these depict citizens as “consumers of rights” 20 (Gilson, Dunleavy, and Tinkler 2009) Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune 10 www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com
who can claim the, often specific and personalized, information generated by the government.21 However, this should not overshadow the massive coordination and policy oriented tasks that enable such services. As a result, this report shall asses the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare as Policy Oriented. What model of citizen engagement/organizational learning would be appropriate given this ministry’s responsibilities? The actions of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare are felt throughout its stakeholders in very direct ways. For example, recent action has supplied the states with over 68,000 crop management units to aid farmers in preserving, ripening and distributing products. Policies like this require cooperation from state governments and engagement by citizens and other interest groups. This can be achieved through a ‘double-loop learning’ learning model. Such policies depended on a certain level of transparency and value-oriented services in the minds of constituents and it has been shown that direct discourse via social media platforms like Twitter increase the credibility of government projects in the eyes of the populous. As such, one effective communication strategy that this ministry could utilize is the participatory engagement model. Tweet Analysis Twitter Handle Date Joined # of Tweets # of Followers @AgriGoI May-13 2202 49.5K Assuming office in May 2014, Minister Singh has maintained a strong presence on Twitter alongside the @RadhamohanBJP Nov-13 5781 123K MoAFW. Both the ministry and the Minister officially joined Twitter in 2013 and have since grown large Table 6 Twitter Demographic Information for the MoAFW followings of around 50K and 123K Twitter accounts, respectively. As seen in Table 5, the Minister boasts the larger volume of interactions. A possible reason for the relative gap between engagement levels can be seen in the types of tweets that each handle sends out. In Table 6, one can see that both handles predominantly send ‘Announcement’, ‘Advocacy’, and ‘Information’ tweets. The key difference comes in the form of ‘Response’ tweets. Nearly 35% of the analyzed tweets from @ RadhamohanBJP were direct responses, paired with an almost equally large volume of ‘Announcement’ tweets, followed by ‘Advocacy’ tweets. 21 (Michel 2005) Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com 11
Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare Tweets % by Category Response Reminder Quote Information Greetings Feedback Congratulations Advocacy Announcement 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 @AgriGoI @RadhamohanBJP Table 7 % share of Tweets from each MoAFW Twitter Handle within certain categories What model IS being used in the Ministry’s Twitter handle? ‘Advocacy’, ‘Announcement’, and ‘Information’ Managerial Consultative Participatory tweets account for 87% of those from the @AgriGoI @AgriGoI Æ Managerial Engagement Model handle. The purpose of ‘Advocacy’ and ‘Information’ themed messages is to encourage citizens to adopt a proposed government policy.22 This could suggest Managerial Consultative Participatory a ‘Consultative Model’ in which policy opinions are @RadhamohanBJP Æ Consultative Engagement Model actively sought after by the government agency from the citizens.23 However, due to the low level of ‘Response’ and ‘Feedback’ tweets, it appears that @ Table 8 AgriGoI is using a ‘Managerial Engagement Model.’ Civic Engagement Model Slider Civic Engagement Model SliderThe Minister’s Twitter account balances ‘Response’ tweets with all three of those commonly used by the ministry handle, with ‘Announcement’ tweets representing roughly 35% of the total number. On their own, the response rate can suggest a ‘Participatory Model’; however, roughly 20% of those responses consist of clarifying policy schemes and thanking constituents. Due to these facts, the @RadhamohanBJP’s engagement model fits more closely with the ‘Consultative Model.’ 22 (Reddick, Chatfield, and Ojo 2017) www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com 23 (Macintosh n.d.) Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune 12 www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com
What behavior and or perception can this nurture? As with other ‘Managerial Models’, the primary obstacle to increasing citizen engagement is incentivizing the engagement itself, as individuals themselves are not in control of the information flow. In the case of @AgriGoI’s communications, tweets intend to incentivize use of new farming schemes and e-platforms that can empower farmers. In the case of @AgriGoI, the standard errors/means of likes and retweets shows that there is a consistent engagement but low level of engagement. The Minister of the MoAFW has a much higher like average and a low standard error, displaying more consistency. However, his retweets standard Likes STD. Likes Retweets Retweets error and mean share the same obstacles as the Twitter Handle ERROR Mean STD.ERROR Mean ministry’. This fits the pitfalls usually associated with @AgriGoI Low Low Low Low ‘Consultative Models’. @RadhamohanBJP Low Medium Low Low Summary Table 9 In conclusion, the MoAFW’s two Twitter accounts Standard deviation of Tweets’ likes and retweets predominantly use ‘Announcement’ and ‘Advocacy’ tweets when interacting with the public, staying consistent with our policy oriented classification. These handles utilize different engagement models: ‘Managerial’ and ‘Consultative.’ Overall, there are relatively low volumes of engagements when compared to other ministries but they are also relatively consistent. Additionally, it is interesting that the minister’s account has a much larger following and engagement level, even though both accounts arose around the same time. This could possibly be explained due to the high response rate from Minister Singh, but would need more study. Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com 13
Case Study: Ministry of Communications Abstract The Ministry of Communications is headed by Manoj Sinha and is divided into two departments- Department of Telecommunications and the Department of Posts. The first step of this case study will be to assess a broad definition of the MoC’s responsibilities and determine how to classify them. It will then proceed to see how the Twitter data would showcase civic engagement with the ministry. Communication strategies are particularly essential for ministries such as this and this case study will seek to identify what civic engagement model it may be employing on Twitter. What are the primary responsibilities of the Ministry? The Ministry of Communications is headed by Manoj Sinha and is divided into two departments- Department of Telecommunications and the Department of Posts. The MoC has a large number of responsibilities, but for the purpose of simplicity, this report has condensed them into three major ones. The first responsibility of the MoC is to formulate policies, rules and administrate laws related to various forms of communication and information technology like telegraphs, the internet, telephones, and data. The second is the management and allocation of spectrum to various private or public players. The third responsibility is to cooperate and co-ordinate with various international bodies that deal with telecommunications.24 How can those responsibilities be classified within our 5 categories framework? For social media communication to be effective 24 (Parliament of India 2014) Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune 14 www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com
and smooth, it is essential to understand the main functions and responsibilities of the Ministry. As stated above, the MoC has a large number of responsibilities that have been condensed into three major ones. However, this report will classify the services offered by the MoC within a ‘coordination and supervision’ oriented role, as a majority of its responsibilities include cooperating and coordinating with various state governments and organisational bodies to promote schemes and programmes related to telecommunications. What model of citizen engagement/organisational learning would be the most appropriate given this ministry’s responsibilities? As the MoC has a coordination and supervision’ oriented role, it is important for them to get the views of various stakeholders to improve the existing schemes that are being promoted. Thus, the Consultative model would be the most appropriate model for citizen engagement as the ministry could use social media to post information and receive comments from the stakeholders. The single-looped method of organisational learning would be the most appropriate because it would facilitate the stakeholders to post the questions and views that they have about the services offered, which would lead to the overall improvement of the services, if the ministries uses the feedback provided.25 Tweet Analysis Twitter Handle Date Joined # of Tweets # of Followers Assuming office in July 2016, Minister Sinha has @manojsinhabjp April-14 5,689 81.9K maintained a strong presence on Twitter boasting 81.9K followers to date. As the primary source of Table 10 Twitter Demographic Information for the MEA citizen communication via Twitter for the Ministry of Communications, this will be the sole handle evaluated. What model IS being used in the Ministry’s Twitter handle? The vast majority of tweets from @manojsinhabjp can be classified as ‘Announcement’ tweets, which detail new policies, program updates and industry meetings. These alone account for 37% of the total subset. However, as Table 10 shows, ‘Response’ tweets are the second most frequent with roughly 17% representation. The majority of these ‘Responses’ are aimed at 25 (Millard and Jeremy 2006) Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com 15
Ministry of Communications Tweets % by Category Response Reminder Quote Information Greetings Feedback Congratulations Advocacy Announcement 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 @manojsinhabjp Table 11 % share of Tweets from each MoC Twitter Handle within certain categories solving grievances and complaints. This type of behavior exemplifies a ‘double-loop learning’ style Managerial Consultative Participatory where citizens have the power to dictate information @manojsinhabjpÆManagerial/Participatory Model to the government, forcing action. Due to this context, it would appear that the MoC is utilizing a ‘Participatory Model’ for engagement. However, due Table 12 Civic Engagement Model Slider to being the sole Twitter handle for the ministry, it also contains levels of ‘Managerial Models’ through its large volume of ‘Announcement’ type tweets. Likes STD. Likes Retweets Retweets Twitter Handle ERROR Mean STD.ERROR Mean What behavior and or perception can this nurture? @manojsinhabjp Low Medium Medium High The MoC is utilizing two engagement models and will thus need to be prepared for the habits Table 13 Standard deviation of Tweets’ likes and retweets associated with both. By employing elements of a ‘Managerial Model’, @manojsinhabjp may limit its potential engagement by controlling the majority of poicy information. While this may be bolstered Summary by the ‘Participatory Model’ elements shown in the ministry’s ‘Response’ tweets, it also opens up the In conclusion, the MoC is simultaneously using the www.cpc-analytics.com account to inconsistent engagement. This is visible in ‘Managerial’ and ‘Consultative’ models for one Twitter handle. | mail@cpc-analytics.com the Table 13, where the standard errors of retweets, The thematic % of @manojsinhabjp’s tweets fit alongside relative to the average, which shows a relatively wide this report’s policy classification as a coordination and distribution of retweet numbers. The likes are more supervisory role, with over 60% of tweets falling in a role consistent with a medium average and low standard showcasing policy updates or advocating policy adaption. error. However, there seems to be a tendency for citizens to reach out to this handle despite its ‘Managerial Model’ efforts in order to identifywww.cpc-analytics.com solutions for |various grievances. mail@cpc-analytics.com Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune 16 www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com
Case Study: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change What are the primary responsibilities of the Ministry? The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is headed by Anil Madhav Dave. The Ministry has eighty responsibilities which have been summarised into two major ones in this report. The primary responsibility of the MoEFCC is to formulate policies and acts related to forests, environment and climate change. The second responsibility is to co-ordinate with the ministries, state governments and international organisations to implement schemes related to conservation and sustainable development. How can those responsibilities be classified within our 5 categories framework? Social Media like Twitter and Facebook can be used as effective tools of communication by the Ministries. As stated above, there are two major responsibilities of the MoEFCC. However, this report will classify the services offered by the MoEFCC within a ‘Policy’ oriented role, as a majority of its responsibilities include formulating policies like the National Environment Policy and implementing schemes like the Joint Forest Management Programme for Conservation Management and Afforestation.26 What model of citizen engagement/organisational learning would be the most appropriate given this ministry’s responsibilities? For a policy oriented ministry such as the MoEFCC, which functions under the mandate to change social behavior, it is important to determine the effectiveness and opinion of its actions. In that sense, citizens can contribute by posting their views and 26 (Parliament of India 2014) Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com 17
inputs on the certain policies implemented or that are to be implemented. As the MoEFCC has a policy oriented role, the Consultative model would be the most appropriate to gather the views and inputs of the stakeholders which would then help in shaping policies. Apart from sharing their inputs, citizens can announce their level of satisfaction with the policies implemented, raise questions about the policies and put across how the processes of the MoEFCC can be made more efficient. Part Two: Two Twitter handles represent the MoEFCC: the ministry’s official Twitter handle and the minister’s. Both maintain large follower volumes with 9166 and 14.4K, respectively. Interestingly enough, the Mininster’s account has produced substantially less tweets overall. Date Twitter Handle # of Tweets # of Followers Joined What model IS being used in the Ministry’s Twitter @anilmdave Feb-11 654 14.4K handles? @moefcc July-14 1435 9166 The official ministry Twitter handle and the Minister’s handle are relatively in-sync. ‘Announcement’ tweets Table 14 account for over 40% of @moefcc and @anilmdave’s Twitter Demographic Information for the MoEFCC overall tweets. Additionally, both share similarly high percentages in ‘Advocacy’ and ‘Information’ tweets. This behavior coincides with the paramters of a policy-oriented ministry, such as the MoEFCC as those three categories are primarily used to convince citizens to adopt or react to policy-making. Despite this commonality, however, there is a distinct difference between the two communication channels. @moefcc focuses primarily on collecting and disseminating information either through the aforementioned tweet themes or through ‘Feedback’ requests and community ‘Greetings’ posts. This is a clear example of a ‘Consultative Model’ of engagement, where citizen opinion is sourced from a single-loop information channel. @anilmdave shares the preference for ‘Announcement’ and ‘Advocacy’ tweets but lacks the interactive messages displayed by @moefcc. With less than 5% of analyzed tweets categorized as ‘Feedback’ or ‘Response’ tweets, it appears that the Minister approaches civic engagement through a ‘Managerial Model,’ updating individuals on schemes and policies through a controlled single-loop information channel. However, the overwhelming percentage of categories consistent with the ‘Consultative Model’ demonstrates some behavior between both models. Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune 18 www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com
Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change Tweets % by Category Response Reminder Quote Information Feedback Greetings Congratulations Advocacy Announcement 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 @moefcc @anilmdave Table 15 % share of Tweets from each MoEFCC Twitter Handle within certain categories g g What behavior and or perception can this nurture? Each of the Twitter accounts representing the Managerial Consultative Participatory MoEFCC exhibit tendencies of ‘Managerial’ and @moefcc Æ Consultative Engagement Model ‘Consultative’ civic engagement models. As a result, the engagement in likes and retweets matches the potential fallouts of such models. However, the likes and retweets numbers differ in trends that normally Managerial Consultative Participatory fit one of the models over the other. @anilmdave Æ Managerial/Consultative Engagement Model As a policy oriented agency, engagement is essential to encourage adoption of new policies and societal changes. However, both models Table 16 can potentially suffer from low levels of citizen Civic Engagement Model Slider engagement. The standard errors of likes show that the number of likes a tweet receives are relatively consistent but the average shows very low levels of engagement. Retweets, however, vary wildly and seem to showcase inconsistent engagement. Twitter Likes STD. Likes Retweets Retweets Handle ERROR Mean STD.ERROR Mean Summary @anilmdave Low Low Medium High In conclusion, the Twitter accounts of the MoEFCC @moefcc Low Low Low Low embody two engagement models. This may be what has led to the varied standard deviations of likes and retweets. Table 17 www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com The Minister’s account has a higher and more varied Standard deviation of Tweets’ likes and retweets demographic which can be consistent with the high percentage of ‘Greetings’ and ‘Congratulations’ tweets. Overall, this case study showcases how policy oriented ministries can possess inconsistent engagement levels. Further studies comparing this data to ‘approval ratings’ could elaborate further. www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com 19
Case Study: Ministry of Finance Abstract As a cabinet-level ministry, the Ministry of Finance has a deep array of responsibilities and impacts. As a result, this case study will first clarify which aspects of the Ministry will be analyzed for the sake of Twitter communication. It will then seek to categorize the actual tweets from a randomly sampled subset of tweets and then identify which form of civic engagement and organizational learning is utilized by both Twitter handles associated with this agency. Finally, a clarification on the statistical differences between both handles will allow for a better understanding of the communities that follow each, respectively. What are the primary responsibilities of the Ministry? The Ministry of Finance has a large number of responsibilities and is divided into 5 different departments-The Department of Economic Affairs, The Department of Expenditure, The Department of Revenue, The Department of Financial Services, and The Department of Disinvestment. The most well- known responsibility of the MoF is the formulation and presentation of the budget. Apart from this function, the MoF is also responsible for the formulation of various fiscal and monetary policies, and the management of external debt.27 How can those responsibilities be classified within our 5 categories framework? The use of Twitter, and other forms of social media by the various ministries has fastened and improved its communication with the citizens. The MoF has presented the budget on a yearly basis and has implemented various fiscal and monetary policies which have a direct impact on the citizens. Thus, this report would classify the services offered by the MoF within a policy oriented role. 27 (Parliament of India 2014) Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune 20 www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com
hat model of citizen engagement/organisational learning would be the most appropriate given this ministry’s responsibilities? All the three models show the various degrees to which the government encourages the participation of citizens to better the offered services. The MoF is primarily responsible for policy formulation and implementation, which is why the participatory model would be the most appropriate for citizen engagement.28 The participatory model facilitates a multi-directional flow of information between the government and the stakeholders rather than a unidirectional one.29 The data collected from the stakeholders would help in shaping various policies. Stakeholders would also question why various policies were implemented, which would result in an increase in transparency, which lead to the betterment of the ministry as a whole. Thus, the most appropriate method of organisational learning would be a double-looped one. Part Two: The MoF boasts two active and largely followed Twitter handles: @FinMinIndia and @arunjaitley. Respectively, they maintain 670 thousand and 7.32 million followers for close to 8 million accounts together. However, as is the case with many other ministries, the Minister’s handle Twitter Handle Date Joined # of Tweets # of Followers – with 7.32 million followers – is substantially larger than @FinMinIndia Jul-14 7,217 670K the ministry’s. Table 17 shows that this has also been achieved while publishing far fewer tweets overall. It is @arunjaitley Nov-13 1865 7.32M important to realize that the audience for @FinMinIndia Table 18 and @arunjaitley are also different, as the former relates Twitter Demographic Information for the MoF solely to MoF matters and the latter utilizes his account to publish notices not just on MoF matters but also Ministry of Defense issues. What model IS being used in the Ministry’s Twitter handles? Overall, both MoF handles tend to prioritize ‘Announcement’ and ‘Information’ tweets. When combined with the relative lack of ‘Response’ or ‘Feedback’ tweets, it would appear that both accounts are utilizing a ‘Managerial Model’ of engagement. Any information brought up in engagement via Twitter is directed in a single-loop model from the Ministry to the citizens. @FindMinIndia exemplifies this most of 28 (Kakabadse, Kakabadse, and Kouzmin 2003) 29 (Chadwick and May n.d.) Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com 21
Ministry of Finance Tweets % by Category Quote Response Reminder Information Greetings Feedback Congratulatio… Advocacy Announcement 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 @FinMinIndia @arunjaitley Table 19 % share of Tweets from each MoF Twitter Handle within certain categories all with over 80% of all the analyzed tweets falling within one of those two categories. The Minister, however, has a different tendency that may point towards his much larger twitter following, despite substantially less overall posts. While @arunjaitley does employ ‘Announcement’ and ‘Information’ posts quite frequently, ‘Greetings’ Managerial Consultative Participatory represent nearly 30% of his communication. When @FinMinIndia ÆManagerial Engagement Model juxtaposed to @FinMinIndia with less than 5% ‘Greetings’ tweets, this may act as a distinguishing factor for the handles. However, despite this difference, both accounts Managerial Consultative Participatory have little ‘Feedback’ or ‘Response’ themed tweets @arunjaitley Æ Managerial Engagement Model and instead rely on spreading information in single- loop systems. This points to a ‘Managerial Model’ of civic engagement. Table 20 Civic Engagement Model Slider What behavior and or perception can this nurture? The issue commonly associated with ‘Managerial Models’ is low engagement, as individuals feel less empowered to impact discussions due to not having all the information available. Despite that, Table 21 shows that @FinMinIndia’s likeswww.cpc-analytics.com have a relatively | mail@cpc-analytics.com Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune 22 www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com
lower standard errors as does its retweets. This points Twitter Likes STD. Likes Retweets Retweets to a more consistent level of engagement. However, Handle ERROR Mean STD.ERROR Mean when one considers the averages for each metric, it @FinMinIndia Low Low Low High would point to a higher performance with retweets. One possibility for this could have to do with the @arunjaitley High Very High Low High period of demonetization when @FinMinIndia was actively engaged in spreading information. @arunjaitley, however, experiences a far larger Table 21 standard error in liked tweets while having less Standard deviation of Tweets’ likes and retweets overall retweets. An explanation for this could be due to the large number of community-based ‘Greetings’ and ‘Congratulations’ tweets which attract a lot of attention and had a very high average number of likes. What this shows, however, is that the standard error of likes for all tweets from the Minister are very spread out, pointing to relatively inconsistent engagement. Summary In conclusion, the Twitter accounts employ the ‘Managerial Model’ of civic engagement. Information is distributed in a single-loop learning model to update citizens on issues, events and policies from the Ministry. There is less focus on debating policy with the Twitter community, instead choosing to merely inform. The Minister experiences far more engagement overall, but it is revealed that this may be due to being responsible for multiple ministries and for the high level of goodwill tweets sent from his handle. Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com 23
Case Study: Ministry of Power Abstract The Ministry of Power has a host of responsibilities that require international, domestic, inter-state and intra- state communication strategies. The first part of this case study will be evaluating and defining the roles which will be assessed for civic engagement via Twitter. The actual published tweets from both MoP accounts will then be categorized and evaluated to determine what organizational learning model and civic engagement model the MoP may be utilizing in its current communication. Finally, the statistics of those tweets will be considered in order to identify distinctions between both accounts. What are the primary responsibilities of the Ministry? As the main aim of this report is to address the significance of social media interaction between citizens and the various ministries in India, it is important to first get a clear understanding of the responsibilities of the ministry being studied. The primary responsibility of the MoP is the formulation and implementation of policies and projects in the field of the energy (E.g.-electricity, coal). It also accepts and reviews policies related to energy.30 How can those responsibilities be classified within our 5 categories framework? For social media communication to be effective, it is important for the citizens to understand the services provided by a certain ministry. The MoP has fulfilled its responsibilities by developing and implementing various schemes and policies like the Electricity Act (2003) and the Energy Conservation Act (2001) that aim at energy conservation and energy efficiency. Thus, this report would classify the services offered by the MoT within a policy oriented role. 30 (Parliament of India 2014) Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune 24 www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com
What model of citizen engagement/organisational learning would be the most appropriate given this ministry’s responsibilities? All the three models show the various degrees as to which the government encourages the participation of citizens to better the offered services. In the Managerial model, the citizens are merely viewed as customers and there exists a unidirectional flow of information from the government to the citizens. Since the MoP has a policy oriented role, it would require the views and participation of its stakeholders to help shape the various policies that could further be implemented. Thus, the ‘Consultative Model’ would fit best as it would allow stakeholders to engage with the information posted by the Ministry and provide useful feedback. In this model, the data collected from the communication with the stakeholders via Twitter would be used for policy improvement and shaping new policies. Hence, the most appropriate method of organisational learning would be a single- looped one. Twitter Analysis: Twitter Handle Date # of # of Followers Joined Tweets The MoP maintains two Twitter handles, one for Minister Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyalOffc) and the other @MinofPower Jun-14 1,446 88.2K for the Ministry (@MinofPower) itself. Piyush Goyal’s twitter handle @PiyushGoyalOffc has 16,700 followers. @ PiyushGoyalOffc Apr-16 3490 16.7K On the other hand, @MinofPower has 88,200 followers on Twitter, even though the account has lesser tweets Table 22 than the Minister’s account. Twitter Demographic Information for the MoP Looking at Table 1, the Ministry seems to be more popular, but why? To understand this distinction the Tweets from each account have been categorized per the framework addressed in the methodology. The most common type of tweet from both the accounts fits within the ‘Announcement category, in which the Minister and the Ministry inform the stakeholders about various schemes and programmes that are being implemented by the Ministry. The Ministry and the Minister also have common tweets under the ‘Information’ category, where they tweet about various facts pertaining to their responsibilities. As seen in the graph above, the Ministry seems to prefer ‘Announcements’ related to its tasks, and the Minister prefers communicating via the ‘Quote’ category of tweets to stakeholders. However, the two have very low rates of ‘Response’ tweets. Only 1 % of both the Ministry and the Ministers tweets are in the form of responses. Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com 25
Ministry of Power Tweets % by Category Quote Response Reminder Information Greetings Feedback Congratulations Advocacy Announcement 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 @MinistryofPower @PiyushGoyalOffc Table 23 % share of Tweets from each MoP Twitter Handle within certain categories What model IS being used in the Ministry’s Twitter handles? As mentioned above, both the official accounts of the MoP and Piyush Goyal share ‘’Announcement’ as their most common type of tweet (26 % @MinofPower and 17% @PiyushGoyalOffc). This is consistent with the ‘Managerial Model’ of citizen engagement in which the information is presented to the stakeholders in a ‘single loop learning’ manner. Emphasis isn’t on whether a certain policy should exist, but how citizens can best take advantage and be aware of such policies. The Minister’s largewww.cpc-analytics.com percentage share of | mail@cpc-analytics.com ‘Quote’ tweets also confirms the Managerial Model. What behavior and or perception can this nurture? Social Media thrives off of the idea that individuals can control or, at least, affect the flow of information. Both @MinofPower and @ PiyushGoyalOffc, are experiencing one of the obstacles that come with a ‘Managerial Model’: incentivizing citizen engagement. Table 24 While the standard error of the Ministry’s received Civic Engagement Model Slider likes and retweets suggests a consistent level Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune 26 www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com
of engagement the means also show that such Likes STD. Likes Retweets Retweets engagement is quite low. | Twitter Handle ERROR Mean STD.ERROR Mean Similarly, the Minister Piyush Goyal exemplifies @ MinofPower Low Low Low Low the ‘Managerial Model’ of citizen engagement and exhibits similar consistent but low overall @ PiyushGoyalOffc Low Low Low Low engagement, relative to the overall followers. As this model only allows for the unidirectional flow of Table 25 information from the government to its stakeholders Standard deviation of Tweets’ likes and retweets it needs to be considered before initiating any campaigns. Summary In conclusion, the MoP focuses on informing their stakeholders about the various policies it formulates and implements, and about the various events and meetings that occur between the minister and other governing bodies. Both the Minister and Ministry follow the ‘Managerial Model’ of citizen engagement and as noted above, there exists a constant but low level of citizen engagement. To improve the communication between the two, the Consultative Model should be used in which the inputs and suggestions given by the stakeholders in comments via Twitter would help the MoP shape policies and improve the existing policies as well. Thus, a single- looped method of organisational learning would be the most appropriate for the MoP. Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com 27
Case Study: Ministry of Health & Family Welfare Abstract The Ministry of Health & Family operates under the mission of improving the health of the 1.3 billion Indian citizens within the country. This is an enormous undertaking requiring distinct levels of communication and outreach. This report will seek to identify the primary responsibilities most oriented towards citizens and classify the functions of its mandate. It will then evaluate a randomly sampled subset of tweets from both Twitter handles associated with the ministry. The tweets will be categorized and used to identify the current engagement model at use. Finally, statistics on likes and retweets will be compared alongside these categories to determine the effect that communication may be having on engagement with the populous. What are the primary responsibilities of the Ministry? The Ministry of Health & Family is headed by Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda and has been divided into two departments-The Department of Health and Family Welfare and the Department of Health Research. The Ministry has a large number of responsibilities. However, to make it easier to understand, the report has condensed all the responsibilities into 3 major ones. The first responsibility of the MoHF is to promote research in the field of medicine and nutrition. The second is the implementation of schemes and programmes related to health like the National Programme for Control of Blindness. The last responsibility is to formulate policies and co- ordinate and form liaisons with international bodies regarding family welfare and health.31 31 (Parliament of India 2014) Berlin | Strasbourg | Pune 28 www.cpc-analytics.com | mail@cpc-analytics.com
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