Review of History and Political Science

Historical Outline of the Development of the Hungarian Party System
Dr. Csaba Fazekas, Dr. Sándor Fekete

Abstract
Paper deals with the formation and changes of the political party system of Hungary. The face and program of the political parties were closely connected to the specialities of the different political systems or regimes followed by each other. First organised political parties appeared before the 1848 revolution and new constitution. In the age of Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy Hungary had a very special political system, from this emerged the most important speciality, a „parallel party system‟, because in the focus of political life was the so-called „public law system‟, the relation to the 1867 Compromise. After the defeat of the World War I the independent and smaller Hungary became an authoritarian, right-wing political system („Horthy era‟) with a powerful and unchangeable governing party with other oppositional parties. After 1945 in the shadow of sovietisation the democratic parties wanted to stop the communists, but it was unsuccessful, from 1949 Hungary became a Soviet type dictatorship, a one-party system. Some political parties re-established in the years of 1956 revolution, after the soviet occupation until the end of 1980s we cannot speak about political parties. In the years of transition formatted a new party system with three poles: liberalism, conservativism, social democracy. This party system was permanent until the new political changes („second transition‟) of 2010.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/rhps.v6n2a5