Public relations in public administration: A disappearing act in public administration education

How is public relations viewed when it is considered a sub-field of another discipline? In the profession of public administration, from its first textbook in 1924 through the end of the 1950's, public administration training-as mirrored in the most widely cited texts of the era-included teaching about the uses, importance and benefits of public relations to the public administrator-in-training. However, as measured by the most widely cited textbooks of the 1980's and 1990's, the subject of communications in general, and public relations in particular, largely disappeared from the agenda of public administration education. This article documents the rise and fall of public relations in public administration education, notes some early signs of renewed attention and suggests re-establishing public relations as a valuable part of contemporary public administration education.