The Role and Place of Public Relations during the Communication Process

Abstract

Although the term of public relations has never been used before the XX th century, the civilized man has been practicing some empirical forms of the public relations even from the time of forming the social groups. The communication process has replaced the interpersonal consensus and the communication's development has lead to socialization. In Romania, public relations have become a discipline that students study in schools and universities, offering basis notions about the human communication process. Meanwhile the governmental institutions and the business organizations have become conscious about the public relation's importance for their activity's success. Public relations are now essentials for a modern life; therefore, social development cannot be conceived without them. Their existence is organized and developed by the specialized structures which are active, dynamic and innovative. After the First World's War there has been noticed a growth of the interest towards the techniques of public information, this favorable current having a strong development after the World's War II. Public relations have become a well-known and accepted profession and, despite the opposition and the suspicions manifested by a part of the mass media, the information services have been growing fast as institutions. The history of some of the public relations' components identifies with the history of the human communication itself. During the ancient civilizations (Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman), people were convinced to accept the political, military or religious leaders by various instruments, used even in our days: direct communication, speeches, persuasions, etc. Although our contemporaries have invented the rules of constructing a speech, these rules people have known and used them since Platoon's time. Different forms of communication between men meant to gain confidence, popularity and the public support have evolved together with human society's evolution and development, even though during the human society's development we cannot talk about a conscious and systematic activity of the public relations. Starting with the XX-th century though, public relations have started to develop in a beginner phase in the U.S., afterwards they gained a special attention in Great Britain, Canada and Australia, countries of which juridical and cultural traditions have as a basis, like in the U.S. the English legislation.