Politics of Hungary

New Democracy

Modern Hungary is a thriving member of the European Union; a far cry from its days as a Soviet bloc nation.  After a painful adjustment to the realities of a free economy, Hungary has emerged as success story aided, in part, by the growth of medical tourism.  

When the Soviet Empire disintegrated, Hungary was faced with the prospect of anarchy. However, the country had a relatively smooth transition to democracy with a minimum of bloodshed.  The country quickly adopted its constitution in 1989, which gave all Hungarians the right to free speech and the right to dissent. Free and open elections also helped to usher in a new era of prosperity and civil liberties.  

Parliament

The presence of various and diverse political parties in Hungary has made it difficult for any one party to capture the majority in any given election.  Coalitions or alliances between a number of various parties are the common style of government here. The Parliament is comprised of a single chamber and has 386 members.  The members are all elected by the public for a period of four years.  

Parliamentary seat allocation is quite complicated.  There are Individual constituencies, Territorial constituencies, whose seats are apportioned in the same way as representatives in the US, and Compensation seats which are reserved for parliamentary factions. To be recognized as a faction, a party has to have had 15 mandates from Parliament.  

President & Prime Minister

The President is a titular head who has a mainly ceremonial post.  The constitution defines his rule as someone who “watches over the democratic functioning of the state.” The Prime Minister is the head of the government.  Political power in the recent past has come to be concentrated in the large right and left wing parties, while smaller specialized parties have been pushed to the sidelines.