“I’m from the government and I’m here to help,” is a phrase that has been roundly mocked for decades. As America faces a pivotal election that will determine whether the incumbent government will remain in power another four years, it’s a good thing we have academic organizations like MIT GOV/LAB to help ignorant citizens learn to trust their dear leaders.

Messaging strategies loom large in this effort, particularly given the amount of unregulated misinformation being distributed that could undermine confidence in the excellent job the government is doing.

From expertly handling the COVID pandemic to implementing a rational immigration policy to maintaining the purchasing power of the dollar to protecting prominent political candidates to assuring the integrity of our electoral process, citizens must be made to understand that our government is second to none.

GOV/LAB field research in Kenya indicated that “a messaging strategy emphasizing private sector involvement could boost interest in public services in the short term, but could erode trust in government in the long term.” Which is why there is much work to be done repairing the damage caused by treasonous whistleblowers who revealed the extent to which federal agencies had pressured social media giants into censoring true information that could have undermined trust in our leaders’ wisdom and competence.