ABSTRACT
In the decade between 1987 and 1996, Taiwan undertook a dramatic political transformation that changed both the nature and the role of the mass media in the country. Taiwan began this period as a one-party authoritarian state whose government strictly controlled both the media and its messages. In contrast, by the end of the decade, Taiwan had become a fully developed democracy characterized by an explosion of media outlets that enabled politicians and the public alike to experiment with various forms of communication, freely exchanging policies and ideas.
