ABSTRACT
Taiwan's political environment has undergone manifold changes during the last few decades. It developed from an authoritarian polity into one of Asia's most vibrant democracies. Socioeconomic changes have not only contributed to Taiwan's rapid political development, but also influenced the nature of electoral campaigns. Taiwan's development of political marketing can be divided into two stages, namely into the martial law and the post-martial law era. Martial law was imposed in 1949 and deprived opposition candidates of their rights to campaign freely. The lifting of martial law in 1987 led to a liberalization of Taiwan's media and to the formation of various political parties. Machine politics began to replace gentry politics, and with it the candidates' financial capabilities became one of the most crucial factors in electoral campaigns. The worsening political culture of the late 1950s was addressed by a group of upper-class intellectuals who formed the first meaningful opposition movement in postwar Taiwan.
