ABSTRACT
The government’s ability to communicate with the public and control the information the public receives is necessary to influence public opinion and, thus, the policy agenda. Regardless of whether a country is democratic or authoritarian, leaders in all regime types find ways to control the flow of information. The level of control, however, is dependent upon the structure of the government, and, specifically, the amount of open versus closed access points that exist within a system. How firms and organizations communicate is also dependent on the environment in which they function. Globalization has made this task even more challenging as public relations practitioners are no longer confined to communicating with domestic audiences only. Because a nation’s political system, among other variables, influences the practice of public relations, it is necessary to understand these differences in order to adopt effective communication strategies, whether in the private, corporate, nonprofit, or governmental sector.
