Public Affairs as Part of the Mix, or Icing on the Cake?

Brent Colburn, a Fall 2015 Fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics, discusses the differences between campaigning and governing, drawing on his experiences at both the US Department of Defense and on President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign to compare and contrast. He goes on to explain how the Department of Defense integrates public affairs into its decision making, how government agencies can adopt some of the more entrepreneurial aspects of campaigns, and how agencies can change to attract the talent required to tackle challenges like cyber threats.