“Community” as a Foundation for Public Relations Theory and Practice

This essay argues that community serves as a viable theoretical foundation for the development of public relations theory and practice. Four arguments are set forth, based on (a) the pervasiveness of the community idea and ideal in everyday life and contemporary scholarship, (b) conceptual limitations rooted in the widely accepted focus on publics in public relations, (c) the emerging recognition of community-related theories in public relations scholarship, and (d) the strength of community building as a philosophy to drive public relations practice.