Philipp Niemann addresses three central themes of political communication research using an interdisciplinary approach from political science, communication studies, and media studies: the mediatization of political communication, the campaign communication of political parties on the internet, and the theoretical-methodological problem of analyzing political online communication. The focus of the study is the online communication of the major political parties during the state elections in Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg in the spring of 2011. Unlike established approaches, the recipient level is at the center of the analysis.