Abstract:

One of the functions of public relations is to persuade citizens to voluntarily participate in governance policies. Therefore, it is seen as a professionally designed communication management aimed at obtaining the public's "yes" vote. However, the right to say "no" and the climate to exercise this right without facing pressure or marginalization are crucial criteria in a democratic culture. This study aims to recall and remind the forgotten origins of public and government relations in a democracy. In a situation where everyone perceives public relations as everything done for the harmonious management of the entire population, even in a period where democracy evokes different connotations for everyone, it is important to academically examine and discuss the subject. As a popular academic field of study, digital democracy has a deep bonds with concepts such as public versus governing powers, public opinion versus counter-public opinion and manipulators, passive citizenship versus active citizenship, involve problems and contradictions. By addressing various current cases within the ontological framework of I. Kuçuradi's value ethics approach, the concepts of public relations, democracy, and digital democracy will be discussed in the study.

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