Using the Public Structures Simplifying Model
“Public structures” is a conceptual model developed by our Talking about Government research team. Because the word “government” is fraught with negative stereotypes, our research team developed this model to be used in regular communications about government. While we are not suggesting that the word “government” should never be used, our testing showed that using the public structures concept--instead of the term “government”--early in a conversation helped to evoke a broader understanding of the public sector and to avoid the negative reactions often associated with the word government.
In using this concept, we are trying to make government more vivid by focusing on structures and systems, not people in power or public servants. Additionally, we are trying to convey that America's prosperity and quality of life depend on our creation and continued maintenance of public structures.
All of the examples refer to government as public structures -- structures that were created to make our economy thrive and to serve our common good.