The birth, testing and results of the 1989 Hungarian electoral law

Bibliographic Data

ID11601408
AuthorsIstván Kukorelli (Eötvös Loránd University, corresponding author)
Year1991
Volume43
Issue1
Pages137-156
Publication date1991-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSoviet Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0038-5859
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09668139108411914
OpenAlexW1984886771
LanguageEN
Citations received10

THE ELECTIONS in Hungary were a political event that gave the first signals that the country needed a democratic system of political power. The Electoral Law No. III/1983 provided a wider range of freedom, but was still only a product of Kaidarstyle political liberalism. Nevertheless, the effects of the law went far beyond the limits of the political concessions laid down in the law itself. What was brought into being was a potential 'Reform Legislature' within the one-party system. This Parliament, after the disappearance of the political barriers in 1988, fulfilled its historical task by contributing to the successful changing of the political system. It was during the nominating meetings of 1985, which were the first legally organised efforts of a civil society for many years, that the citizens became aware of their political power and of the possibilities for their effective participation in political life.1 The large number of spontaneous nominations of parliamentary candidates is outstanding evidence of this phenomenon. The 1985 elections taught many lessons, and the resulting experience was much appreciated by national as well as foreign sources.2 The evaluation of the elections originated quite a few national studies that projected plans for further reforms of the electoral system.3 Important efforts in this respect were made within the competent department of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (MSZMP), and also in its Research Institute and by the section of the Ministry of Interior that had jurisdiction in electoral matters. By 1987 the main concerns for the further development of the electoral system were formulated, and these were continually amended by subsequent viewpoints. However, the official material produced in 1987 did not recommend fundamental changes in the electoral system. The basic deliberations of the 20-22 May 1988 MSZMP Conference centred only on the modification, not full reform, of the electoral system. This conference was of major importance in the dismantling of the one-party state; however, the theoretical basis of political power still remained the old ideology: 'the condition for the practice of the people's power is socialist pluralism built on the leading role of the party'.4 It was a logical consequence of this power theory that even the new ideas about the elections were kept within the existing political limitations, and were unable to surmount the obstacles and the shadows of the one-party system

Political science · Historical and Political Studies · Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics · Hungarian Social, Economic and Educational Studies · Law

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