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have formed a distinct network of civil organisations around the party and in general
declared the party system inadequate for their objectives and called for something
different, such as a broader umbrella group based not on ideology but on values.Their
negative campaign against the other side became permanent and total, far beyond of
the normal government-opposition relationship.They questioned everything, from the
very legitimacy of the new government to the results of the elections. The 2006
campaign started on the first day of the new government cycle.

The Hungarian Socialist Party – a conflict of the old and new type of professionalisation of
politics and political communication
The Socialists and their leaders had sought to transform their party into a Western
European-style social democratic party, an essentially modern party aimed at the
efficient management of society.But they had inherited an organisational structure and
a communication culture that arose in response to fundamentally different needs:
those of a mass party in one-party conditions. They also inherited a belief in the
separation of the state and party communication processes, the emphasis of special
expertise in both fields, and the differentiation of internal and external party
communication. The coalition with the liberal party, the Alliance of Free Democrats,
further emphasised the rejection of propaganda, PR techniques, emotional and
symbolical styles of communication.

Their partly unexpected triumph in the second elections in 1994 was more the result
of the voters’ dissatisfaction with the first free government, and of the government’s
exceptionally negative media campaign against the Socialists, than of their own
campaigning. During the 1994–1998 Socialist-Liberal government, they announced
their plan for the crisis management of the economy and introduced a policy of
The Professionalisation of Political Communication
economic stringency. This action was approved of by well-known economic experts
and such institutions as the World Bank. Unfortunately, these policies were not
appreciated by potential voters, who cared more for their own actual welfare than
for the financial state of the country.The Socialists and Liberals hoped that the fruits
of these policies would succeed just in time for the elections, but this was not the
case.

Their loss of power in 1998 was the result of the unpopular economic policies and the
ruling parties’ exaggerated self-confidence in attempting to manage the country by
experts without taking care to inform and persuade the public of the benefits of the
policies. Undoubtedly, their loss of power was also connected to the use of new
effective campaign methods by their opposition, the Young Democrats. The only
innovation introduced or accepted by them between the two rounds of the election
campaign was the prime minister’s television debate with the young good-looking and
energetic Fidesz party leader in opposition, Viktor Orbán. This did not help the
Socialists,and many experts felt that it contributed to the victory of the latter.

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