* Provides public managers with an understanding of the uses of public relations as tools to advance the goals of public agencies, including media relations, an informed public, public branding, listening to the citizenry, and crisis management * Helps managers know what external communications tools are available to them for advancing the mission and results of their agencies. * Focuses on practitioners throughout the public sector, including the US federal government, state and local governments, and public administrators outside of the US * Addresses the use of digital communications as social media and the resultant rapid diffusion of information has transformed the responsibility, accessibility, and vulnerability of government communications * Examines the topic of branding, its growing influence in the public sector, and how it can be used to connect with citizens and increase public engagement.