Long before a politician opens his mouth to speak in public, his words have been filtered through a team of public relations experts, communications consultants, and campaign assistants. When did politicians? speeches stop being their own? And who are these professional communicators who fine-tune messages to suit the demands of electoral strategy? In The Professionalization of Political Communication, renowned contributors explore the effect of such consciously manipulated discourse on European politics; the resulting volume is essential for anyone interested in the changing political dialect.