24 ◾ Mordecai Lee
it. Similarly, the politician would likely avoid a major public ght with the Forest
Service. Elected ocials want to be associated with popular agencies as much as
they want to be viewed as critics of unpopular ones. Furthermore, one person’s pro-
paganda can be another’s information. If propaganda is in the eye of the beholder,
then agencies have much more maneuvering room in their public relations activities
than may be initially apparent. erefore, one implicit reason for public adminis-
trators to engage in eective public relations is to help, indirectly, improve their
organization’s popularity with the citizenry. Much good ows from such public
support—just as long as it’s not obvious that this is what the agency