Abstract
Scholars tout today as the “age of populism” (Ricci, D.M., Cambridge University Press., 2020) following worldwide electoral success for populist politicians. Populist politicians seem to utilize an atypical formula for managing relationships with media, public, and other relevant stakeholders. Notably, they are more digitally savvy than their non-populist counterparts, maintaining direct communication with niche publics. This political environment has sparked a great deal of research within political science and political communication scholarship. To keep with the times, political public relations research must be reexamined to adjust strategies and tactics accordingly for ensuring electoral success. In this chapter, we argue that the populist politician creates a unique approach by merging political marketing and political public relations tactics. Specifically, this shift emerges in their use of emotional appeals, reactive communication, digital communication, and overall social media presence.
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Shaughnessy, B., Kiousis, S. (2023). Strategic Political Public Relations in the “Age of Populism”. In: Salgado, S., Papathanassopoulos, S. (eds) Streamlining Political Communication Concepts. Springer Studies in Media and Political Communication. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-45335-9_9
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