Not my party, still my public: Political organization–public relationships beyond the base

This study examined the political Organization-Public Relationship (OPR) that partisan voters ( N = 352) reported with their own political party and the opposing party. By moving political public relations scholarship away from solely examining the organization’s active supporters as a public, the data here provided insight for organizations uniquely operating in a system where they eventually govern and need to serve opposing publics. Employing an online survey across the U.S. during the 2024 election, the researchers examined the ability of belonging and disenfranchisement to predict party members’ political OPR and cross-party OPR with both the Democratic and Republican parties.