Public relations is an outgrowth of three factors: the power of public opinion, continuous competition among institutions for public support, and the development of media through which the public can readily be reached. From a historical standpoint, the work of public relations is considered here in terms of the following four somewhat overlapping sets of dominant practices and traditions:

• Rhetorician and Press Agent Tradition
• Journalistic Publicity Tradition
• Persuasive Communication Campaign Tradition
• Relationship-Building and Two-Way Communication Tradition

Rhetoricians and press agents have operated since early times. Their approach, largely spoken and based on boastful claims, predominated until the late 1800s when a journalistic and publicity tradition was made possible with the growth of newspapers to serve a rising American middle-class market. The persuasive communication campaign tradition that emerged after World War I was based in large part on the success of wartime mass mobilization and behavioral science persuasion efforts. And finally, a relationship-building or two-way communication tradition, grounded in theories of interpersonal and organizational communication, reflects the larger scope of communication responsibilities undertaken by today's practitioners.

Taken together, these traditions should be seen as orienting frameworks around which public relations work gets done rather than as models of ideal professional practice. The pattern in which they evolved probably owes most to the growth of mass media and specialized channels of communication as well as to larger economic, political, social, and cultural forces in society. Thus, these four traditions do not reflect any sort of linear movement from unprofessional or illegitimate practice to more fully professional and ethical work. We believe that this framework applies equally well to corporations, social movements, firms or agencies, not-for-profit organizations, government agencies, and even community groups.

Public relations has generally moved from an overriding focus on using media publicity for influencing public opinion to a broader management perspective based on using communication strategically for many purposes.