ABSTRACT
The development of communication as academic knowledge and practical activity must be based on the accumulation of social capital and the existence of democratic processes in a society. This chapter describes how the institutionalization of the public sphere has been coming about after political and economic reform in Russia had begun. The reorientation of communication knowledge from language-centered to sociology- and psychology-centered has provided the basis of the professionalization of communication as a practical activity. Especially public relations and its strategic dimension being constrained to build and to manage multi-stakeholder relationships appears to be most sensitive communication tool in the quality of the institutionalized public sphere. The more that civil society will have an opportunity to influence the formation of a political and economic agenda, the more strategic communications will become a platform for relationships among the state, market, and the public in Russia.
