Conference Agenda

Corruption in the public sector constitutes one of the most substantial social problems of our time. It has been argued to lead to undermining trust in public sector organisations by citizens and, eventually, to erosion of governance capacity and democracy.

Public sector organisations have taken various measures to address corruption, one of which is enabling whistleblowing and safeguarding whistleblowers. Whistleblowing has been conceptualised “as a disclosure made by a person with privileged access to an organization’s data or information about a wrongdoing, which implicates the organization” (Culiberg and Mihelič 2017, p. 788). While many countries had already national laws and regulations in place to facilitate whistleblowing and protect reporters, the EU issued in 2019 the Whistleblowing Directive to create a uniform and safe environment for individuals to report breaches without the fear of retaliation (Directive (EU) 2019/1937). The EU Member States were subsequently required to implement the Directive into national law by 2023 at the latest.

Central to the Directive is the establishment of reporting channels for whistleblowers. Also, the Directive details how organisations deal with reports and follow up on reported incidents with respect to timelines. The main interest of this research lies in the implementation of such channels on publicly accessible websites.

Parallel to the development of national legislation, public sector organisations developed or updated online systems and platforms as state-of-the-art reporting channels. However, with this, the issue of acceptance of these channels by potential whistleblowers comes to the fore, connected with issues such as protection of the identity of the whistleblower and confidentiality and safe storage of the reported data. Previous research of e-government acceptance and use by citizens has identified the role of trust in digital systems as central to lower inhibition threshold levels.

Against this backdrop, there is a research gap about how public sector organizations signal and communicate trustworthiness, next to raising awareness, of such reporting channels. Addressing this gap and focusing on organisational websites as major communication instruments of public sector organizations in the present age, our research questions are as follows:

RQ1: What are the dimensions of trustworthiness to be considered in the communication of public sector organizations to lower inhibition threshold to report wrongdoing?

RQ2: To what extent are aspects of trustworthiness considered in the design of whistleblowing systems of public sector organizations from different areas of government in Austria and Germany?

In a nutshell, our results show that the various streams of literature on trustworthiness can indeed be brought together to develop an analytical framework. When subsequently applying this framework, some of the similarities and differences can be led back to how close the organisations operate on markets and on how far organisations have already gained experience with online whistleblowing channels.

The paper discusses the issue of information availability in the accountability process of public authorities. Accountability is considered as a three-stage process consisting of information, discussion and consequences, and is illustrated by a mechanism applicable to local authorities in Poland. Accessibility is defined as a document property that enables users to easily find, navigate and understand it. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the accessibility of the stat- of-the-municipality annual reports, in accordance with a review of the literature, legal requirements and recommendations of the ISO standard on plain language. The research presented in the paper draws on the contributions of three disciplines: political science (in the field of accountability theory), public management science (in the field of public affairs reporting) and linguistics (in the field of readability of official documents). Fourteen municipalities were selected for the study and all reports published during their five-year term of office were analyzed (N=70). The study focused on the availability of annual reports on municipal websites and their content. The research protocol included 13 criteria for the accessibility of the reports. The manual analysis and calculation resulted in an index for each criterion and for each report. The study showed that the annual reports, usually in pdf format, are easy to find and are posted on the municipal websites in time to be read carefully before the scheduled debate on the reports. The reports contain a lot of information about the municipality’s tasks, and this information is supported by graphics. However, it is difficult to navigate through the documents: reading the reports is not supported by a summary, a list of tables, charts and photos. In addition, the reports lack an explanation of the reasons for changes in the implementation of the municipal tasks and a presentation of the municipality in comparison to other municipalities. The FOG index calculated for each report, with an average of 14 across all reports, indicates that annual reports are relatively difficult documents to read, requiring undergraduate studies. The first conclusion from this study is that the content of annual reports is tailored to the expectations of municipal councilors, not to the needs and capabilities of residents. As a result, municipal reports have limited use in holding municipal authorities accountable to citizens. The document therefore recommends the development of a universal standard for municipal reports.

The present paper is based on research funded by the National Science Centre, Poland, No. 2022/45/B/HS5/00084.

In the context of increasing complexity, information overload, and declining institutional trust, public sector organizations are called upon to rethink how they communicate, engage, and create value for citizens. This paper explores how strategic communication and behavioral public marketing can jointly contribute to the creation of public value, strengthen citizen trust, and improve the effectiveness of public service delivery.

The paper argues that public marketing is not merely about promoting services, but about understanding and influencing behaviors, attitudes, and expectations through citizen-centered design. Drawing on the principles of social marketing and behavioral economics, it highlights the potential of segmentation, targeting, nudging, and feedback loops in advancing public goals — from health behavior and environmental sustainability to civic participation.

Simultaneously, it positions public sector communication as a foundational element of democratic governance. In an age of multiple information sources and citizen skepticism, communicative action must be strategic, transparent, and empathetic — capable of responding to crisis, building long-term trust, and reinforcing the legitimacy of institutions.

Beyond theoretical contribution, the paper introduces a concrete public policy proposal: an Integrated Framework for Public Trust and Behavioral Communication. This includes four axes:

Behavioral design of public policy, where each intervention is supported by segment-specific communication, nudging strategies, and message testing.

AI-enhanced targeting for personalized communication in areas such as health, taxation, and crisis preparedness.

A public trust and transparency protocol for communication strategies, ensuring ethical standards, feedback mechanisms, and participatory message development.

The creation of a National Center for Public Communication and Marketing, acting as a cross-government support body for data-informed, citizen-centered communication campaigns.

The research adopts a conceptual-empirical approach, synthesizing literature on public value, behavioral insights, and strategic governance with selected examples from EU Member States. It argues that communication and marketing should no longer be viewed as peripheral tools, but as core functions of responsive, evidence-based, and citizen-trusted governance.

Ultimately, the paper calls for the institutionalization of strategic communication and behavioral public marketing as pillars of public administration reform and a means to bridge the gap between citizens and state in the age of complexity.