Public policies and regulations need to broaden the voices represented in the deliberation and search for solutions to societal problems. The practice of lobbying is a legitimate and legal way to reach public decision makers in order to contribute to a more participatory and plural democracy despite its bad reputation. As a general characteristic, Latin America still has shortcomings in the development of participatory democracy. Due to the lack of an organized civic culture, resources, or ignorance, civil society does not usually use planned methods for an effective exercise of the right to petition public authorities and reduces its areas of incidence to sporadic demonstrations around specific issues. However, it is possible to recognize certain key cases promoted in Argentina by civil society organizations that have achieved their purposes, such as laws related to eating disorders, equal marriage, and assisted fertilization.

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O artigo se preocupa com dois elementos ligados a construcao de identidade das relacoes publicas: o objeto de estudo disciplinar e as aplicacoes sociais que supoem seu exercicio professional. A abordagem sobre o primeiro oferece uma diversidade que deixa clara a falta de consenso. As aplicacoes sociais, por sua vez, tem sido historicamente obviadas na literatura predominante, sendo possivel rastrear alguns antecedentes unicamente entre autores alemaes. Contudo, a atencao das associacoes globais por este elemento parece estar em ascensao e pode impactar numa maior legitimidade publica da disciplina.

The purpose of this study is to verify the utilisation of the existing public relations general approaches and theories at a global scale in the public relations undergraduate programmes of the five leading Argentinian universities. A qualitative approach with an exploratory scope that employs data collection techniques such as the qualitative content analysis of academic documents, semi-structured in-depth interviews and structured surveys for ascertaining theoretical loading are used. Results reveal that public relations undergraduate programmes in Argentina present a markedly professional character and prefer theoretical frameworks linked to the functionalist tradition.