Independent pollster and political scientist Stuart Elway says government folks need to get a whole lot smarter about involving and engaging the citizens of Washington.

Noting how much the media world has changed in the past year, Elway told a Capitol audience on Wednesday that government needs to change as well as it relates to citizens — the “stakeholders” you hear bureaucrats talk about. It no longer works to have “education” programs where Olympia simply puts out an old-style message and presumes that it is received by the citizen and that they will take the desired action, he says. Instead, smart agencies will find constructive and genuine ways to “converse” with citizens, to have a back-and-forth dialogue, either online, in-person or in larger forums, he says.

“People want to be heard,” he say, adding that smart program managers will figure out a way to put the results of all that conversation to work.

Elway, who has been running the independent Elway Poll since 1992 and his research firm since 1975, says his research shows that citizens are hungry for government transparency and accountability. “Their perception is your political reality,” he told a brown-bag forum put together by Secretary of State Sam Reed.

Elway says some state officials, such as Governor Gregoire, state Auditor Brian Sonntag and Reed, and some local governments and regional agencies like Sound Transit, already have begun this new style of communicating.  The emphasis of President Obama, Gregoire and Reed on civic engagement and volunteerism also offer opportunities for government to promote concrete acts of citizen involvement, he said.

Other happy results, including increased voting by the notoriously absent younger voters, should follow as a natural by-product of people getting involved, he says.