Two commissions within the Public Relations Society of America have recently defined courses in case-study analysis, research methods, and behavioral-science theory as central to an acceptable public relations curriculum. To date, these three "streams" within PR education have run independently of each other. The authors produced this volume because they believe that there is a growing demand for an integrative "applied theory" approach to the study of public relations cases. The need for PR professionals to study the social, political, and economic contexts of public relations carefully had been apparent for some time as issues management and environment scanning emerged as focal points of modern public relations. Yet there was no systematic framework for such study. This volume, however, with its strong foundation in theory, provides just that framework and is highly suitable for graduate-level courses in public relations.

Contents: Preface. Part I: Background. Introduction: Where This Book Is Coming From. Issues Management: Decision Making in Action. Researching the SPE Context: A Montage of Methods. Part II: A Theoretical Base. The Social Context: No Human Is an Island. The Political Context in Public Relations: Getting Things Done. The Economic Context of Public Relations: Footing the Bill. Part III: Six Varied Cases. Police in America: Catching Bad Guys and Doing Much, Much More. Livestock Association Magazines: A Tie That Binds, Informs, and Promotes. Motel Inn, Inc., Corporate Franchise Relations: A Giant on the Move. Black Studies in Transition: A Discipline in Search of Its Key Publics. Internal Public Relations in City Government: Serving the Servers. David and Goliath Coexist: The Story of Osteopathic Public Relations. Part IV: Conclusion. SPE-Context Theory in Action: An Overview.