Acceptance of democracy and public relations

Public Relations Review 39 (2013) 394–397

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Public Relations Review

Acceptance of democracy and public relations: Attitudes in a

transitional country

Candace Whitea,∗, Iveta Imre b

a School of Advertising and Public Relations, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, United States b School of Journalism and Electronic Media, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, United States

a r t i c l e i n f o

Keywords:

Global public relations

Transitional public relations

Transitional democracies

a b s t r a c t

The study explores the relationship between acceptance of democracy and opinions about

public communication used by the private sector in television newscasts in Croatia, a coun￾try transitioning to democracy. A survey administered to students at a large University in

Zagreb found inconsistent responses to the items that measured acceptance of democracy,

indicating that young Croatians in the study may still be in a political “gray zone” and may

not have a full understanding of the precepts of democracy. However, there was a posi￾tive correlation between opinions about public relations media practices and acceptance

of democracy. The study suggests that it is not enough to use a theoretical framework of

global public relations that characterizes a country as a democracy or not, but rather to

recognize that democratization is a process. Many people in transitional societies may be

closer on the continuum to traditional communist points of view than to newer democratic

views; such understanding can help provide a theoretical understanding of transitional

public relations.

© 2013 Published by Elsevier Inc.

1. Public relations in transitional countries

The increased number of democracies throughout the world has created new environments for the practice of public

relations as free-market competition and access to independent media become available in former communist and authori￾tarian/socialist nations. The relationship among the mass media, public relations, and democracy is intertwined. Mass media

and public relations both have important roles in building democracies. Bardhan and Weaver (2011) suggestthat public rela￾tions might play a role in the construction of a democratic reality. Lawniczak (2007) contends thatthe transition from socialist

to market economies has positioned the role of public relations in post-communist societies to not only promote a com￾pany, but also promote a new social and economic system of capitalism with a human touch. In countries transitioning to

full democracies, it may be that observing public relations practices could increase understanding of how capitalism works.

As Taylor and Napoli (2005) note, the media provide information about democratic change as well as champion social and

political issues. Public relations practices can exemplify corporate freedom of expression as well as the independent role of

media. The fact that media cover the private sector in itself helps explain how free market economies work.

Sriramesh and Vericiˇ cˇ (2009) provide a theoretical framework for the study of global public relations that includes

understanding infrastructure, which includes political context, culture, and media systems. It is apparent to scholars and

practitioners that there is not a “one-size-fits-all” normative model for global public relations since public relations is

communication and communication is a culturally based receiver phenomenon. Therefore, it is important to recognize

∗ Corresponding author at: 476 Communications Building, Knoxville, TN 37853, United States. Tel.: +1 865 974 5112; fax: +1 865 974-2826.

E-mail address: [email protected] (C. White).

0363-8111/$ – see front matter © 2013 Published by Elsevier Inc.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2013.07.011