In an era of complex reforms, fragmented information ecosystems, and low trust in institutions, how governments communicate shapes citizen engagement and democratic legitimacy. The 2024 OECD Trust Survey shows that trust in institutions is higher where citizens feel that governments explain reforms clearly. This has been a challenge in France, like in other OECD countries, where on average 40% of respondents consider it unlikely that governments will clearly explain how reforms affect them. These figures are a warning signal: when citizens cannot understand public action, why it is needed and how effective it is, even sound policies may fail to gain support.
Measuring communication’s impact is not just a technical exercise; it is central to demonstrate how it brings about concrete changes for citizens and policy. By aligning communication with policy objectives and measuring its effects and impact, governments can better ensure that reforms are understood, trusted, and accepted.
Our 2025 survey of 57 senior government communicators across OECD countries found that few institutions measure the effects of their communication. If 72% of communicators measure how many people view their content, only between 21-30% measure how being exposed to the information changes audiences’ understanding, attitudes or actions.
Only 5% assess whether communication contributes to policy objectives. Visibility is easy to quantify, but it tells us little about whether citizens comprehend policies or are accessing programmes and services that meet their needs. Without measuring its effects, governments cannot know if communication is delivering change.
The key findings and recommendations from the OECD Public Communication Scan of France offer insights that resonate well beyond national borders as governments across the OECD face shared challenges, ranging from declining public trust to increasingly complex information ecosystems.
There are three key lessons from the analysis in France that other countries can take on board:
1. Evaluation and data strengthen communication’s credibility with decision‑makers by demonstrating its tangible contribution to policy.
One of the strongest lessons from the France Scan is that systematic evaluation does more than improve campaigns: it gives communication institutional weight. When communicators can show, through evidence, how their work increases understanding of reforms, shapes perceptions, or drives behaviour change, communication stops being seen as a “visibility tool” and becomes recognised by ministers and senior officials as a strategic asset for policy delivery. This has been observed particularly in Canada and the United Kingdom, the two peer countries in this study.
The Service d’Information du Gouvernment (SIG), France’s central government communication service, has adopted a new indicator framework, developed with the OECD with this lesson in mind. This tiered framework breaks down the metrics to measure communication performance and those that matter to translate its impact to decision-makers. It illustrates how data can empower communicators to be stronger advocates for more strategic goals and help leaders invest in the interventions that matter most.
2. Embedding evaluation at the design stage makes communication more strategic and more effective.
The French experience demonstrates that impact doesn’t emerge spontaneously – it must be planned for. Methods to work backwards from the intended outcome to the levers of change help design more strategic communication, account for external factors, and identify indicators that matter.
Setting specific, quantifiable goals and the indicators to measure them at the start is key. The SIG has begun introducing systematic evaluation approaches, including defining KPIs at the start of campaigns and assessing major initiatives regularly. This strengthens coherence across government and can ensure that communication supports policy goals instead of aiming just at visibility.
3. Building a culture of evaluation requires investment in skills, tools, and leadership.
A key lesson from France is that institutionalising evaluation depends on competencies, shared methods, and senior‑level buy in. The Scan emphasises the need for training public communicators, fostering communities of practice, and equipping teams with frameworks and matrices that support consistent use of evidence. Leadership engagement is essential to elevate communication from promotion to a policy instrument, and to secure the resources needed for sustained evaluation.
To sum up, effective public communication is not measured by visibility alone, but by its ability to foster genuine understanding, informed participation, and trust between citizens and institutions. When governments invest in evaluating and improving how they communicate, they lay the groundwork for policies that resonate, reforms that are embraced, and democratic processes that are strengthened. The lessons from France’s experience, and the broader OECD Scan, show that when communication is designed and assessed for real-world impact, it becomes a catalyst for better governance and a more resilient democracy.
