ABSTRACT
Political public relations as practice dates back to ancient times, but today, public relations strategies and tactics are probably more ubiquitous in political communication processes than ever. Still, there is only limited theory and research that focuses on political public relations which manages to bridge the gap between political communication, public relations, and political science theory and research. Against this background, this chapter reviews theory and research from different disciplines that are relevant to understand political public relations, maps the field of political public relations research, and offers a definition of political public relations. More specifically, political public relations is defined as the management process by which an actor for political purposes, through communication and action, seeks to influence and to establish, build, and maintain beneficial relationships and reputations with key publics and stakeholders to help support its mission and achieve its goals. The chapter ends by outlining the chapters in the book.
