Toward a Model of Political Organization–Public Relationships: Antecedent and Cultivation Strategy Influence on Citizens' Relationships with Political Parties

Abstract

This study examined the organization–public relationship between citizens and their political parties against the backdrop of the 2008 presidential general election. Employing a telephone survey of registered voters (n = 508), we investigated the interaction of politically relevant relationship antecedents, relationship cultivation strategies used by political parties, perceptions of the organization–public relationship between voters and their party, and outcomes of the relationship to test a model of political organization–public relationships (POPRs). Time, interpersonal trust, mediated communication, interpersonal communication, and dialogic communication emerged as significant predictors of POPR strength. The findings lay the groundwork for further investigation of POPRs.

This research was made possible thanks to a grant from the TTU Department of Public Relations Michael G. and L. Marie Parkinson Fund for the Study of Public Relations.

Notes

¹See Hung (2007) for a discussion regarding the merits of using the term cultivation strategies in lieu of maintenance strategies.

²According to available US Census data from the 2005–2007 American Community Survey, the population of the county where this study was conducted was younger (median age was 30.7 years), consisted of fewer women (51.5%), and had a lower educational level (21.3% of the population had attended some college; 28.6% had at least a high school education) than our sample. However, the purpose of this study was to investigate the hypothesized relationships among the independent and dependent variables. Our objective was theory application and development of a theory-based model; it was never our intention to make inferences about the larger population to forecast the election outcome (i.e., effects application).

*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.

*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.

*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.

¹“Overall OPR” is the additive measure of OPR that includes all four dimensions collapsed.

*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.

¹“Overall OPR” is the additive measure of OPR that includes all four dimensions collapsed.