ABSTRACT
Democracy was institutionalized in the Republic of Hungary between 1987 and 1989, as a result of which a multi-tier political system came into being and state power gained a totally new frame of parliamentary democracy. The media played a fundamental role from the very beginning of the democratization process. News coverage of the election campaigns both in print and electronic media became one of the crucial information sources about the events and candidates of the parliamentary, municipal and European parliamentary elections. Media influenced the citizens’ ideological, political and aesthetic views, concepts and values using the marketing tools and verbal, nonverbal and visual means of persuasion. The tactics and strategies of ideological manipulation of citizens would surely have been less effective without their media presentation.
