Foreword 3

Acknowledgements 4

Executive summary 7

1 Communicating across divides: Why it matters for policy delivery 9

 1.1. Public acceptability is an essential condition for delivering reforms and keeping them on track 10

 1.2. Contested and fragmented public debate is affecting governments’ capacity to deliver 11

 1.3. Governments are handling high-stakes reforms in contexts of low trust 11

 1.4. Increasing fragmentation of online spaces amplifies the appearance of division 12

 1.5. Effective and impartial public communication can support shared understanding and constructive debate 14

 1.6. Communicating across divides: Overview of the approach 15

 References 22

 Note 27

2 Joining up policy and communication across the policy cycle 28

 2.1. Ensuring communication adds value at different stages of the policy process 30

 2.2. How communicators and policy can work hand-in-hand at every step 31

 2.3. Making communication-policy collaboration routine 35

 References 37

3 Learning what people think beneath the surface 38

 3.1. Making sense of public opinion on contested issues 41

 3.2. Understanding framings, narratives and their evolution 44

 References 49

 Notes 51

4 Supporting shared frames of reference for debate 52

 4.1. How to broaden the frames of reference that support public debate on contested issues 55

 4.2. Engaging independent voices to contribute to constructive debate 61

 References 68

 Notes 69

Annex A. Useful resources and further reading 70