Andrea Roestenburg

Democratic Pr?: Building Relationships Between Members of Parliament and Their Constituents Andrea Roestenburg

This book takes the Grunigian notion of symbiotic relationship building and applies it to a political context. The Author proposes that the relationship building model of public relations could facilitate a more genuine engagement between Members of Parliament and their constituents. Much has been written about the normative model of public relations and its role in establishing, building and maintaining a sense of community between an organisation and its publics (Grunig and Hunt, 1984). This study focuses its observations and analysis within the political microcosm at democracy?s interface between the local Member of Parliament and their constituents. The objective of this study was to evaluate how public relations is currently used at electorate level and to suggest how it could be improved. In doing so, the researcher spent a year in a marginal seat leading up to the 2007 Federal Election and gained rare insight into the mind of the incumbent, the Party machine and the critical role of PR in the democratic process.