The Modernization of Election Campaigns and Its Research Opportunities in Indonesia’s Direct Elections Era

Elections have changed significantly since 2004 in Indonesia when citizens for the very first time voted directly for their national leaders. The changes seen not only at the significant participations, either in the electorates or in the political parties contesting the elections, but more so on the way campaigns were conducted. Political parties and individual candidates have run campaigns in a way that has a deep involvement of political marketing, scientific research, political consultants, and professionalization of strategies and the messages conveyed to the voters, to which often referred to as modernization of campaign. Professionalization of campaigning has given a new face of electoral politics in Indonesia, where crafting persuasive message to woo the public is much more important than the substantive and ideological policy preferences offered to the people. Individual popularity becomes a dominant factor for elites to compete for political positions through election. This calls for investigation, because what happens during campaigns will influence the rest of electoral process and the results accordingly. This paper is aimed at exploring the modernization of campaigns theory, observing its practices in Indonesia, and categorizing its thematic research opportunities in the context of Indonesian direct elections