Dictatorships and Western Public Relations Firms
Which dictatorships hire Public Relations (PR) firms, under what conditions, and with what effects? About 80\% of post-WWII dictatorships have enlisted US PR specialists. While emerging literature explores strategies of authoritarian image management, little systematic is known about the role of the dictators’ foreign helpers. We argue that autocratic regimes can hire Western PR professionals i) to counter criticism, ii) amplify positive publicity, iii) stabilize foreign support, iv) or signal their allegiance. Analyzing more than 7,100 contracts between authoritarian regimes and US-based PR firms (1945--2022), we find strong support for two of the four logics and partial support for the others. Our analyses also show that hiring PR firms increases the chances of high-level diplomatic visits from the US but does not lead to more economic or military aid. These findings are crucial for understanding how authoritarian regimes wield soft power and interfere in foreign public discourse and decision-making.