Publications of Bozóki, A.
A stabilitás illúziója a válságot stabilizálja
The Illusion of Stability Stabilizes the Crisis
Anarchism, Hungary
Oxford: Blackwell, 127-129.
Kultúra és esélyegyenlőség
Conference proceedings. Pécs, October 2007.
Consolidation or Second Revolution? : The Emergence of the New Right in Hungary
The political turn of 1998 in post-transition Hungary marked the beginning of a new era: the rise of the New Right. Fidesz, which used to be a liberal party during the regime change of 1989, later changed its political stance. Under the presidency of Viktor Orban, Fidesz became a centre-right party by adopting a mixed ideology that contained contradictory elements. The reason for Fidesz's electoral success in 1998 was that it responded to the social need for order and democratic consolidation after the turbulent years of political and economic transformation. However, the years when Fidesz governed Hungary (1998-2002) could be characterized by both conservative consolidation and populist mass mobilization. Voters could not fully understand why the rhetoric of 'second revolution' would lead to the consolidation of democracy. This sort of contradictory agenda-setting from above alienated the majority of voters in the 2002 elections so Fidesz was replaced by the returning MSZP-SZDSZ left-liberal coalition government. Despite two electoral losses (2002 and 2006), Fidesz created a second political culture, an alternative polity that established itself as the Hungarian version of the New Right, a mixture of populism, conservatism, and plebeian, redistributionist, economic nationalism. The emergence of the Hungarian New Right reinterpreted social conflicts, and sharpened political division in the society. Adapted from the source document.
Democratization in Central Europe
Democratization in Central Europe is a success story in historical perspective. Twenty years after the spectacular collapse of communism, most countries, which had belonged to the “buffer zone” between West Germany and the Soviet Union, now belong to the European Union. The transition was relatively short and was characterized by negotiations, self-limiting behavior, and nonviolence of the participants (with the exception of the Romanian revolution). The ideas of 1989 included negative freedom, free market liberalism, consensual democracy, civil society, and the wish to return to Europe, determined by the social, political, and economic legacies of communism. The short transition was followed by a longer and more difficult consolidation, which was parallel with economic restructuring, privatization, and deregulation. The pain of economic transformation was socially accepted as an “inevitable” part of the process. Social peace could therefore be based on the patience of these societies as well as on the hope to enter NATO and the European Union. In a way, it was an externally driven consolidation. In 2004, most of the Central European countries joined the European Union, which caused a landslide political change in their internal politics. While countries of Central Europe are now inside the EU, which caused some parallel changes in the leadership, the end of post-communism did not seem to bring fundamentally more innovative political elites into the leadership of these societies.
Consolidation or Second Revolution? The Emergence of the New Right in Hungary
The political turn of 1998 in post-transition Hungary marked the beginning of a new era: the rise of the New Right. Fidesz, which used to be a liberal party during the regime change of 1989, later changed its political stance. Under the presidency of Viktor Orba´n, Fidesz became a centre-right party by adopting a mixed ideology that contained contradictory elements. The reason for Fidesz’s electoral success in 1998 was that it responded to the social need for order and democratic consolidation after the turbulent years of political and economic transformation. However, the years when Fidesz governed Hungary (1998–2002) could be characterized by both conservative consolidation and populist mass mobilization. Voters could not fully understand why the rhetoric of ‘second revolution’ would lead to the consolidation of democracy. This sort of contradictory agenda-setting from above alienated the majority of voters in the 2002 elections so Fidesz was replaced by the returning MSZP–SZDSZ left-liberal coalition government. Despite two electoral losses (2002 and 2006), Fidesz created a second political culture, an alternative polity that established itself as the Hungarian version of the New Right, a mixture of populism, conservatism, and plebeian, redistributionist, economic nationalism. The emergence of the Hungarian New Right reinterpreted social conflicts, and sharpened political division in the society.
Anarcho-demokraták : az anarchizmus elmélete és magyarországi története
Anarcho-democrats: the theory of anarchism and its history in Hungary
Háború és béke
War and Peace
Hogyan reformáljunk? : Tipikus politikai dilemmák
How to Reform? : Typical Political Dilemmas 2000, March 2007. 3-12.
A szabadság kultúrája : Magyar Kulturális Stratégia 2006-2020
The Culture of Freedom – Cultural Strategy for Hungary, 2006-2020
Consolidation or Second Revolution? : The Politics of the New Right in Hungary
In his paper, the author intends to explore the problems arising from this consolidation of democracy, with special attention to the New Right that ruled Hungary between 1998 and 2002. The New Right coalition government attempted to consolidate by means of a “second revolution”, which, however, led to its election defeat. According to the author, one of the lessons to be learned from the 1998-2002 electoral period is that in democracy, political and cultural communities are two different things. The New Right government, however, wanted to restructure the cultural community according to a right-wing cultural value-system, and by doing so it suggested that whoever failed to agree with that could not be a member of the political community
Erotikus? Katolikus? Politikus?
Viszonválasz György Péternek (Szex hadiállapot idején – 2005. november)
Az Európai Unió és Magyarország : a passzívan támogatott csatlakozás
The European Union and Hungary: Accession Passively Approved in Bayer József: At the Accession to the European Union
Két pályaív
Two Career Paths
Az alkotmányos forradalom éve : 1989
The Year of Constitutional Revolution
Politikai ideológiák
Political Ideologies
A rendszerváltás tartalma és a demokrácia feladatai
The Content of Regime Change and the Tasks of Democracy
Az elitváltás elméleti értelmezései : kelet-közép-európai megközelítések
Elite theory enjoyed a remarkable revival in East Central Europe. Many researchers coming from different schools of thought – Marxist class analysis,Weberian sociology, functionalist social stratification research, New Class theory, and the like – turned to the analysis of rapid political and social changes and ended up doing elite centered research. One of the most important characteristics of contemporary elite research is the focus on elite transformation because nowadays elite research is primarily about change. The study investigates some major paradigms in elite theory (Daniel Bell, Kevin Phillips, Alvin Gouldner, Konrád and Szelényi, Irvin Kristol) and discusses contemporary general statements in detail (Burton and Higley, Iván Szelényi, Higley and Lengyel, Higley and Pakulski). Finally, it offers a wide overview on recent explanations which proved to be relevant in understanding elite change in East Central Europe. Those theories include the ideas of 1. ’Grand Coalition’ (Elemér Hankiss), 2. political capitalism (Jadwiga Staniszkis), 3. elite network state (Anton Steen), 4. technocratic continuity (Erzsébet Szalai), 5. institution-building elites (Kaminski and Kurczewska), and finally 6.the proposition of ’three elites’ (Jacek Wasilewski). It predicts that, as reflection to the caracteristics of the period of democratic consolidation, comprehensive elite research will combine formal, positional analysis and informal, elite network approach as well.
Az MSZP második visszatérése és a rendszerváltás értelmezései
The second return of the MSZP and the interpretations of regime change
Party-System and Public Discourse: The Hungarian Semi-Loyal Parties
The article provides an analysis of semi-loyal par ties based on the discussion of Hungarian politics. The following issue is being addressed: What is the situation with those semi-loyal parties that appear to be fully participating in democracy? It is argued, that despite being marginalized politically, semiloyal parties might exercise a significant influence over public discourse.
Success Stories : Lessons of Democratization in Central Europe
The article analyzes the meaning and modes of these revolutionary changes of 1989 by focusing on the nature of the roundtable talks and their impact on the subsequent democratic regime.The fact that countries of Central Europe became new democracies is not attributable to a single factor only. There are numerous internal and external causes that brought about the collapse of the old regime in this particular way, in this particular time. As far as the internal causes are concerned, one must stress 1. the impact of previous revolutions and reform attempts, 2. the diminishing performance of the economy, 3. the exhaustion of the social reserves of the regime, 4. the disintegration of the ideology, and 5. the willingness to compromise on the part of the new and the old elite. Among the most important external factors, one must number 1. the defeat in the Cold War, 2. the crippling consequences of the arms race, 3. the social and ethnic conflicts that made the Eastern Bloc bursting at the seams, 4. the coordinated, evolutionist strategies of the democratic opposition in a number of these countries, 5. the corresponding, human rights-based foreign policies of the Western countries initiated buys President Carter in the 1970s, and finally, 6. the rise to the top of the Soviet party hierarchy of First Secretary Gorbachev who introduced a style of politics open to compromise.
Theoretical Interpretations of Elite Change in East Central Europe
Elite theory enjoyed a remarkable revival in Central & Eastern Europe, & also in international social science research, during the 1990s. Many researchers coming from different schools of thought turned to the analysis of rapid political & social changes & ended up doing centered research. Since democratic transition & elite transformation seemed to be parallel processes, it was understandable that sociologists & political scientists of the region started to use elite theory. The idea of "third wave" of democratization advanced a reduced, more synthetic, "exportable" understanding of democracy in the political science literature. The main focus of social sciences shifted from structures to actors, from path dependency to institutional choices. Transitions, roundtable negotiations, institution-building, constitution-making, compromise-seeking, pact-making, pact-breaking, strategic choices -- all of these underlined the importance of elites & research on them. Elite settlements were seen as alternatives of social revolution. According to a widely shared view, democratic institutions came into existence through negotiations & compromises among political elites calculating their own interests & desires. The elite settlement approach was then followed by some important contributions in transitology which described the process of regime change largely as "elite games." By offering a systematic overview of the theoretical interpretations of elite change from New Class theory to recent theorizing of elite change (conversion of capital, reproduction, circulation, political capitalism, technocratic continuity, three elites & the like), the paper also gives an account of the state of the arts in elite studies in different new democracies of Central & Eastern Europe. 4 Tables, 2 Figures, 188 References. Adapted from the source document.
Book review : Central European Ways to Democracy : Studies in Public Policy
Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia are by most international standards liberal democracies. But these democracies still are relatively poor compared to West European countries. By examining the success of democratization in unfavourable economic conditions the legacy of the transition process as well as the legacies of pre-communist and communist regimes are shown. The Central European pattern of transition can be summarized by two ideas: non-violence and negotiation. The transition socialized political and social actors to value peace and self-limited political behavior: both experiences proved useful in later stages of democratization too. Among pre-communist legacies institution-building has been emphasized in the revolutionary tradition. People learned that breaking with the past through rebellion was not enough; short term victories can easily be turned to defeats. Only building a new institutional order can guarantee the longer term success of revolutionary change. Among many negative ones, the few positive legacies of communism -- social mobilization, industrialization, high literacy rate, urbanization, and a curious form of female emancipation -- created some favorable social requisites for democratic political change.
Book review : Vitatkozó diktatúra
This article reviews the book of Ervin Csizmadia: Diskurzus és diktatúra.
Politikai közösség vagy kulturális közösség? : az Orbán-kormány demokrácia-felfogása
Political or Cultural Community? The Orbán Cabinet’s Understanding of Democracy
Pártrendszer és közbeszéd: a félig lojális pártok
Party System and Political Discurse: The Semi-Loyal Parties
Politikai fordulat Magyarországon
Political Turn in Hungary
Research on Political Elites in East Central Europe
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Az 1989-es kerekasztal-tárgyalások kelet-közép-európai összehasonlításban
The Roundtable Talks of 1989 in East Central European Comparison
Fiatal demokraták
Young Democrats
Adaptation and Change : Characterizing the Survival Strategies of the Communist Successor Parties
Examines the adaptation strategies of several communist successor parties from 1991 to 2001. Characterization of the communist parties in terms of the kinds of adaptation strategies they have adopted since the collapse of communism; Review of the commonly cited factors which affect party identity change; Assessment of the extent in which their party programs had changed from the initial versions to the programs which appeared in the second generation elections.
A kerekasztal-tárgyalások és a rendszerváltozás
The Roundtable Talks and the Regime Change
A magyar átmenet összehasonlító nézőpontból
The Hungarian Transition from a Comparative View
Életút és politika : a kerekasztal-tárgyalások résztvevői
Biography and Politics : The Participants of the Roundtable Talks
The Idea of Federalism and the Perception of Geopolitics
Proceedings of the International Conference on Civil Society in the Countries in Transition: Comparative Analysis and Practice, held in Subotica, Yugoslavia, May 28-31, 1997.
A polgári radikális kormány
The Civic Radical Government