Public Relations and Politics: Background and

Contemporary Practice
Literature Review and Case Studies

Austin Corthell
Public Relations Theory & Practice (JMC 68000)
Public Relations Special Report
10/13/08
 Public Relations and Politics: Background and Contemporary Practice

Introduction
Within the life of the generation now in control of affairs,
persuasion has become a self-conscious art and a regular organ of
popular government. None of us begins to understand the
consequences, but it is no daring prophecy to say that the
knowledge of how to create consent will alter every political
calculation and modify every political premise.

-Walter Lippmann1

The practice of public relations in politics is often derisively referred to as

‘pr’ or ‘spin’. In the contemporary political world of elections public relations serve a

key role in campaigns. This paper is focused on the study of public relations in political

campaigns. Composed of a literature review and two best practice case studies this

special report cites the research of scholars in public relations and political

communications. The literature review begins by providing a formal definition of

‘political public relations’. A brief history of the practice of public relations, outlining

important figures and events, is provided that shows the growth of the profession as a key

management function. The case study section features a study of a successful public

relations campaign and a study of the effectiveness of public relations tactics in framing

issues in the media. The purpose of this special report is to outline the existing body of

knowledge regarding the study of public relations in politics and to show specific

campaigns where excellent public relations management led to successful outcomes.

1
Denton, R. Political Communication in America (3rd Ed.).

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 Public Relations and Politics: Background and Contemporary Practice

Public Relations and Politics: Background

Overview
‘Political public relations’ is the study of the practice of public relations in

politics. In Christina Holtz-Bacha’s book Encyclopedia of Political Communication

(Vol. 2) the author provides a formal definition of political public relations2 that

distinguishes the study from other relevant realms of study such as political marketing

and political advertising. Central to Holtz-Bacha’s definition are the ideas of ‘informing’

and ‘persuading’. Unlike marketing and advertising, which seek to match a product or

service with a particular audience desire, public relations is aimed at building

relationships with audiences. A similar concept that is included in this literature review

is that of political communication3. This is the concept that communications holds a vital

role in mediating messages between the government and the public.

History
Political communication has grown from its humble beginnings in the 19th

Century to its grand role in contemporary politics. Understanding the foundations of the

practice of public relations is key to the history of public relations in politics. Public

relations scholar Scott Cutlip’s book Public Relations History is a detailed history of

public relations practice dating back to the formation of the country of the United States

of America. Cutlip provides a working frame of reference regarding the emergence of

public relations practice in politics. Beginning in the late 19th Century4 Cutlip identifies

2
“Political public relations refers to the strategic communication activities of actors participating in the
political process that aim at informative and persuasive goals in order to realize single interests (Holtz-
Bacha, page 677).”
3
“Our political system processes a multitude of inputs from our social environment that become outputs of
political structures, values, and actions. Communication channels the inputs, structures the outputs, and
provides feedback from political system to the environment (Denton, page 3).”
4
“More systemic efforts to carry the party message to the growing number of voters were developed in
time for the 1880 Presidential campaign (Cutlip, page 210).”

3
 Public Relations and Politics: Background and Contemporary Practice

the systemic organization of communication tactics in Presidential campaigns. Aide to

President Grover Cleveland George F. Parker5 is identified as a crucial figure in the early

practice of public relations in politics. In the 1892 Presidential campaign Parker helped

Cleveland combat negative newspaper attention by distributing copies of Cleveland

speeches in advance to newspapers, a practice that laid the foundation for a long-term

campaign for the candidate.

The 1896 Presidential campaign saw the first organization of publicity and

campaign management. Both the Republican and Democratic parties organized their

campaign headquarters, national speaking tours and produced written pamphlets meant to

‘educate’ voters. The McKinley also used the American flag as a symbol for the image

of the campaign. Cutlip notes that this practice by the Republican Party has continued

into the present6. The campaign of the Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryant

was unable to match the Republicans efforts of publishing campaign literature. The

ensuing Republican victory made clear the importance of the new publicity and campaign

management tactics. Following his victory, President William McKinley, continued to

monitor newspapers during his presidency. Print media dominated political campaigns

until the advent of radio (1928) and television (1952).

Former Clinton administration communications official Sidney

Blumenthal’s book The Permanent Campaign argues the importance of communication

consultants in political campaigns and offers a history of important consultants. The

chapter “The interpretation of American dreams” is a look at the early public relations

practitioner Edward Bernays. Blumenthal states that despite the advent of modern public

5
“Parker had known Cleveland in a casual way previously, but from this time on, he served the
conservative Democrat in many important ways as a public relations aide (Cutlip, page 213).”
6
“Republicans today still exploit the flag as though they had a corner on patriotism (Cutlip, page 217).”

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 Public Relations and Politics: Background and Contemporary Practice

relations strategy and tactics it was Bernays who provided the original foundation for all

public relations practice in politics7. Bernays is credited with formulating the

‘engineering of consent’, a key social doctrine used to determine audience understanding

and desire8. In general, Blumenthal credits Bernays with legitimizing the vital role of the

public relations consultant in a political campaign9.

Stanley Kelley Junior’s book Professional Public Relations and Political

Power offers a perspective of the role of public relations in politics at the midway point

of the 20th Century. The book contains case studies of excellent public relations in

political campaigns of the time and a summary of the role of public relations in political

campaigns. The book identifies the growing role of the public relations practitioner in

relation to the growth of mass media10 and the production and delivery of key messages

to audiences11. Kelley further illustrates the public relations practitioner’s growing

importance in the realms of party politics and public discussion of issues.

Politics and Public Relations: Contemporary Practice

Role in modern campaigns

In contemporary world public relations serves a vital role in the

management and strategy of political campaigns. Political communication scholars

Robert E. Denton and Gary C. Woodward’s book Political Communication in America

7
“For it was Bernays who in the 1920s invented the media event, the latent message, appeals of indirection,
and initiated market research (Blumenthal, page 12).”
8
“He introduced the scientific approach to problems of public opinion, developing a coherent conceptual
understanding of advertising he called the ‘engineering of consent’. This social doctrine has been used to
understand and manipulate the psyches of voters as well as consumers (Blumenthal, page 13).”
9
“More, Bernays established the role of the media consultant as respectable and essential (Blumenthal,
page 13).”
10
“More than anything else, public relations as an occupation owes its existence to the growth of the mass
media of communication (Kelley, page 202).”
11
“Each medium has a somewhat different audience and a different meaning to its audience. Each message
that is sent through the communication system must compete successfully with thousands of others, if it is
to reach the consumer at all (Kelley, page 203).”

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 Public Relations and Politics: Background and Contemporary Practice

(3rd Ed.) focuses on the roles and functions of communication in politics. The authors

argue that modern political campaigns are exercises in communication that are scientific

in their research methods and systematic in their methods of implementation. The

specific demands modern campaigns place on organizations requires professional

expertise on the part of the consultant or practitioner12. Denton and Woodward cite the

example of former President Ronald Reagan to further argue that governing, following a

successful campaign requires constant campaigning13.

Role of advertising
There is an overlap between public relations and advertising in regards to

politics14. The importance of advertising in modern politics15 means it plays a vital role in

public relations practice. Christina Holtz-Bacha’s collection of academic essays The

Sage Handbook of Political Advertising explores the role of political advertising in

nations around the world. In the United States political advertising is viewed by many

scholars as being dominated by an image driven model16. The idea of Image building17,

as we shall see, is central to the practice of public relations in politics.

Role of image
12
“Today, campaigns are run by professional consultants who coordinate the activities of media,
advertising, public relations, and publicity. They understand both the new technologies and the unique
requirements of campaigning (Denton, page 101).”
13
“Governing the nation, then, becomes a perpetual campaign where the public is constantly addressed and
its support continually solicited. Ronald Reagan brought into the White House some of the most
sophisticated marketers, pollsters, and media advisors to ever work for a president (Denton, page 102).”
14
“However, the two concepts may overlap insofar as political advertising can affect the image of a
political actor, just as long-term political public relations can influence voting behavior (Holtz-Bacha, page
677).”
15
“At almost every electoral level, from school board elections and the selection of court judges to the
selection of the president, political advertising is the predominant form of communication between
candidates and office seekers and citizens (Holtz-Bacha, page 37).”
16
“This argument often manifests itself in the concern that television advertising will focus the voters’
attention more on the image and personal qualities of a candidate than on a candidate’s issue experience
and positions (Holtz-Bacha, page 41).”
17
“Image building –which is applied to organizations as well as persons- aims at establishing credibility
and trust that may guarantee long term support without having to ask for understanding for each single
decision and that enhances the chances that public relations messages are adopted by journalists (Holtz-
Bacha, page 679).”

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 Public Relations and Politics: Background and Contemporary Practice

As previously mentioned the concept of image building is crucial to

political advertising. Political advertising has become central to the practice of public

relations in modern political campaigns18. In her book Political Empiricism:

Communication strategies in state and regional elections author Rita Kirk Whillock

applies communication research in order to show ties between theory and practice in

political communication. Whillock argues that image building is crucial in the

contemporary world of political campaigns because of publics’ general lack of

motivation to search to research information when making voting decisions19. Whillock

further contends that images inform the public of how a candidate might react to pressure

situations when in office20.

In his book Candidates and their images scholar Dan Nimmo addresses

the concept of image in political campaigns. Nimmo draws on the work of public

relations scholar Albert J. Sullivan in distinguishing the relationship between images and

reality21. Sullivan wrote that the job of public relations is to present truthful images22.

Nimmo finally arrives at his own concept of public relations in the concept of the image:

“Thus, the public relations posture is that images are summary reflections of things

consisting of as much of what we feel about a product or company as what we know

(Nimmo, page 5).” Nimmo’s analysis of the role of image building in political

campaigns bridges the divide between political advertisement and political public

18
“Whole campaigns are often centered on image qualities of the candidate such as leadership, experience,
integrity, independence, honesty, intelligence, and trustworthiness (Whillock, page 111).”
19
“Image campaigns become particularly important to those who lack the desire to sort through the mass of
materials or the ability to do so (Whillock, page 113).”
20
“In such cases, the candidates’ images are perceived as more telling of how they are likely to react in the
future than are their statements about their stand on a particular issue (Whillock, page 112).”
21
“Sullivan distinguishines between images and reality, but notes a close relationship: images are
reflections of reality that carry information about things that lie outside the mind (Nimmo, page 3).”
22
“Sullivan concludes that in dealing with images, public relations must be above suspiscion in its regard
for the truth (Nimmo, page 4).”

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 Public Relations and Politics: Background and Contemporary Practice

relations: “Generally, contemporary image campaigns are carefully orchestrated

combinations of advertising and news accounts furnished through all available media –

radio, television, newspapers, campaign brochures and mailings, and billboards, among

them (Nimmo, page 7).” The overarching strategy of image building also shows the

comprehensive management role in public relations practice in modern political

campaigns.

Case Studies
The following case studies are included to illustrate best practice in

political public relations and the effectiveness of public relations in framing issues in the

media.

Best Practice
K. Sai Prasaad and Ramya Raghupathy’s journal article “A snapshot of a

successful public relations strategy” outlines their research of the public relations

activities of a candidate in the 2004 Indian election23. Their case study shows that

appealing to audience’s emotions and successful use of caste image24 were catalysts for

the candidate’s electoral victory. By organizing a comprehensive public relations

campaign that included media relations, public outreach, event planning and use of

multimedia the candidate was able to be elected into office by a wide margin.

Evaluating Public Relations

Romy Froehlich and Burkhard Rudiger’s journal article “Framing political

public relations: Measuring success of political communication strategies in Germany” is

23
“This case study is a chronological outline of the public relations activities that a politician, Raghuveera
Reddy, undertook in his quest for a seat in the legislative assembly of the southern Indian state of Andhra
Pradesh during the elections of 2004 (Prasaad, page 630).”
24
“This also received media coverage, which in general terms portrayed Raghuveera Reddy as interested in
not only the welfare of his own community but also the general uplifting of all communities (Prasaad, page
631).”

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 Public Relations and Politics: Background and Contemporary Practice

a case study of the political debate in Germany on immigration. The study attempts to

evaluate the overall effectiveness of press releases at ‘framing’ the debate in the news

media. The authors analyzed both the thematic frames, which analyze the points of

emphasis, and the position frames, which cover the political definition of the issue, in

their study. The study found that the various political parties in Germany were able to

insert their messages into the media via press releases25.

Sources
Books:
Blumenthal, S. (1980). The Permanent Campaign. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
25
“In doing so the findings of this framing study suggest that the political players in the German
immigration debate were effective in placing their preferred frames in the media and, respectively, being
related to these frames (Froelich, page 24).”

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Public Relations and Politics: Background and Contemporary Practice

Cutlip, S. (1995). Public Relations History. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Associates.

Denton Jr., R.E., Woodward, G.C. (1998). Political Communication in America (3rd ed.).
Westport, CT: Praeger Publishing.

Holtz-Bacha, C., Kaid, L.L. (2008). Encyclopedia of Political Communication (Vol. 2).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Kelley Jr., S. (1956). Public Relations and Political Power. Baltimore, MD: Johns
Hopkins Press.

Nimmo, D. (1976). Candidates and their Images. Pacific Palisades, CA: Goodyear
Publishing.

Whillock, R.K. (1991). Political Empiricism. New York City, NY: Praeger Publishing.

Journal Articles:

Prasaad, K.S., Raghupathy, R. “A Snapshot of a Successful Public Relations Strategy”.

American Behavioral Scientist. Vol. 49. No. 4 (December 2005): 629-633.

Froelich, R., Rudiger, B. “Framing political public relations: Measuring the success of
political communication strategies in Germany”. Public Relations Review. Vol. 32. No. 1
(March 2006): 18-25.

Walters, T.N., Walters, L.M. “Agenda building the 1992 presidential campaign”. Public
Relations Review. Vol. 22. No. 1 (Spring 1996): 9-25.

Teinowitz, I. “GOP’s contract winning in PR, ad arenas”. Advertising Age. Vol. 66.
No.15 (April 1995): 8-9.

An, S., Jin, H.S., Pfau, M. “The effects of issue advocacy advertising on voters’
candidate knowledge and turnout”. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly. Vol.
83. No. 1 (Spring 2006): 7-24

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