Limitations and recommendations for future research
One of the most obvious limitations of this study is that it reflects a single State within
one country with a particular form of federal constitution. Conceivably, different
results and contrasting perspectives could be found in other settings. However, the
political environment in Western Australia is similar not only to the rest of the country
but also to other nations with a Westminster-style Parliamentary democracy, such asNew Zealand, Canada and, of course, the UK itself. There are also similarities of
approach among democratic politicians around the world, regardless of the particular
constitutional framework in question. While a qualitative approach has the advantage
of facilitating “thick description” (Geertz, 1973), the face-to-face method of interviewing
adopted may have inhibited frank and open responses from participants in some
instances. Highly sensitive subjects, such as the influence of financial donations on
political decision-making, were raised. It is to be expected that even given the
assurance of participant anonymity, respondents would be somewhat cautious in their
statements at times.
While acknowledging the reservations that have been expressed in the public
relations literature (Mackey, 2006), we take the view that further integration of
stakeholder thinking into the public relations field is of the utmost importance (de
Bussy, 2008). Managing stakeholder relationships is – or should be – the core business
of public relations, whether in business, politics or other organisational settings. Yet
much of the theoretical development currently taking place is occurring outside the
confines of public relations with little, if any, regard for the potential role of the
discipline. For public relations to remain relevant to the field of stakeholder
management, it needs to be part of this broader debate. Otherwise public relations may
find itself in the position of one of the marginalised social groups referred to in this
paper – powerless to prevent the function of stakeholder management and its
theoretical development being taken over by others. Hence we call for more papers,
both conceptual and empirical, that investigate the nature of stakeholder management
from a public relations perspective.