ABSTRACT
The conditions under which election campaigns take place have changed considerably during past decades. The process of modernization including social and political changes on the one side and the development of the media systems on the other, have led to changes in the way the political system presents itself to the public. The latter is referred to as professionalization which in turn has brought about certain strategies and techniques that are now the characteristics of modern election campaigns. These can be grouped according to three categories: de-ideologization, personalization/privatization, and active communication management including adaptation, distraction and attention strategies. These three categories are not independent but rather influence each other (cf. Holtz-Bacha, 2000).
