Politics and the pulpit: Exploring the situational theory and the formation of publics for political activism as an effect of political communication from clergy in Black churches in Washington, D.C (J. E. Grunig)

The purpose of this study was to explore J. E. Grunig's (1984) situational theory of publics in the context of political activism of black parishioners from historically black churches in Washington, DC. A total of six focus groups were conducted with adult parishioners from historically black churches in Washington, DC.; The situational theory of publics states that publics are more likely to be active when people who make them up perceive that a problem involves them; that the consequences of what an organization does is a problem; and that they are not constrained from doing something about the problem. This research explored whether clergy pulpit communication about politics could increase both problem recognition and level of involvement in parishioners, as well as decrease their constraint recognition. Such communication could foster the formation of a public for political activism.; This research built on a study by McGrath (2000) who explored whether a health communication campaign could create or foster the creation of a public. The analysis of this study's focus groups showed that clergy pulpit communication about politics, like that of a health communication campaign, did not form publics for political activism.; This study's findings showed that clergy in historically black churches in Washington, DC, can be influential in moving parishioners from a latent public to an aware public; and from an aware public to an active public regarding their activism about political issues they identified as problems. Parishioners can move from a latent public to an active public based upon their level of connection to the problem due to personal experience, mass media coverage, and clergy pulpit communication.