Political Public Relations and Underrepresented Groups

This chapter gathers research that has theorized the place of underrepresented groups in the political environment. Underrepresented groups are defined as the powerless, the constrained, and the marginalized. The chapter synthesizes the social movements, activist groups, and latent groups literatures pertaining to how underrepresented groups use their political public relations to build mutually beneficial relationships. It identifies the public relations management theories focused on prioritizing political public relationships with groups that are the greatest potential threats to organizations achieving their political goals. The chapter concludes with implications on how political public relations as a field of study should consider underrepresented groups in order to advance best practices.