PR 117 - Elections, Politics and Public Relations

Semester Hours: 3

This course will study how political candidates, politicians, and policy advocates communicate, including how they frame narratives about themselves and about issues, promote their candidacies, create “pseudo-events,” move issues to the public agenda, advocate for and against policy ideas, and shape public opinion. Students will evaluate the various impacts of new developments in political public relations, including the use of social media, fake news, and the increased expectation that businesses take public stands on political issues. The class will examine political communication phenomena and strategies, including bandwagoning, the halo effect, expectation setting, and press leaks, using past and upcoming elections as frameworks for course content.

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Summer I 2025

Summer II 2025

Summer III 2025

Fall 2025