Political integration of Hungarian students, 2019

After a four-year absence, the Active Youth (Aktív Fiatalok) Research Group has

returned with a new survey about the political attitudes of higher education students

in Hungary. Since its inception in 2011, this survey has used the same method to

survey a single social cohort, namely students in full-time education, a group who may

be considered role models for their generation. The significance of this year’s findings

relies on the fact that the political views of the majority of students sampled in this

most recent survey – including some born as recently as 2000 – were formed during

consecutive terms of prime minister Viktor Orbán and his government, considered by

many political scientists and commentators to be a hybrid regime. Thus, the findings

published herein may be indicative of changes in full-time students’ interest in political

and public affairs – and in their political views, behaviour and profiles – since the

survey began nine years ago. It is important to point out that the surveyed population

does not include the entire youth population of Hungary but only a small sample from

approximately 200,000 students. It would be an exaggeration to make any statement

or claims that are assumed to be relevant to the entirety of Hungarian youth; nonetheless,

the experience of recent decades suggests that student activity does influence

the behavioural pattern of the 15-29 age group of the Hungarian population.

The flash report was published in Hungarian and in English. The English version starts at the 74. page.