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Briefing Spring 2008

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Faculty Profile: Steven Livingston Helps Lesotho’s Government Find Its Voice


Minister of Communications, Science, and Technology Mothetjoa Metsing; Christopher Smith; Steve Livingston.
When Mothejoa Metsing, Lesotho’s minister of communication, science, and technology, visited Washington last October hoping to find help drafting a new communication plan for his government, the State Department suggested Steven Livingston, professor of media and public affairs and international affairs and director of the School of Media and Public Affairs’ Political Communication Program. After meeting Livingston, who also helped Rwanda and Kenya find ways to communicate more effectively with citizens, Metsing invited him to Lesotho.

Two months later, Livingston visited Lesotho and worked with Christopher Smith (BA’99), a U.S. embassy official stationed there. Livingston reports that he was not surprised to see Smith and another Elliott School alumna at the same embassy. Over the years, he has met numerous Elliott School alumni in posts in the Middle East, Europe, South America, and Africa. In fact, the foreign service officer he worked with in Rwanda was also an Elliott School graduate.

Smith, who graduated from the Elliott School with a master’s degree in Russian and Eastern European Studies, said via email from Lesotho that his Elliott School education has served him well. Smith said GW prepared him for his career by improving the quality of his writing and “beefing up” his knowledge of the area.

Lesotho, a constitutional monarchy located in southern Africa, faces “serious capacity challenges,” Livingston said. “It has none of the infrastructure and processes or insight into public affairs that we take for granted. In the United States, the smallest mayor has a press operation as a part of governance. In Lesotho, no one does.”

Livingston’s plan aims to help Lesotho dispel rumors and inaccuracies about government programs on its route toward political stability. It calls for setting up ministerial-level government spokespersons to disseminate accurate information, a regularized schedule of press conferences, and greater access to government documents and information for the press.

“What I teach was reflected in my advice to Lesotho,” Livingston said, adding that his experiences in Lesotho in turn find their way into his lectures. Ironically, though, the primary seminar he is teaching this term explores how information abundance impacts politics. “But Lesotho goes the other direction,” he said. “It lacks the institution mechanisms to manage information.”