Focus on Hungary

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. 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.

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. 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.

Despite the presence of migration in the discourse of politicians, media and the general public in recent years, there is a persistent lack of facts about the life situations and motivations of newcomers to Europe. With this book the the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Institute for Public Affairs aim to contribute to a fact-based debate on the politics and policies of migration in Central Europe. 

The interpretation of the Hungarian “illiberal state,” in terms of political philosophy and political science outlines a set-up in which even though the constitutional institutions typical of democracies still formally exist, they however no longer function—even while occasionally adopting decisions that comply with constitutionality—as intended at the system level: Instead of serving as true checks on how the government wields power, they function as institutions stabilising the autocratic workings of the state. This paper aims to examine one of the crucial features of how “illiberal states” operate, namely populist and inflammatory government communication that seeks to make public debate hegemonistic and the closely related government actions intended to silence critical opinions, together with the legal instruments available to counter these things.

This study aims to lay the foundations of a collaboration that can be joined by other organisations still being formed, as well as by actors sharing human rights values who can reach out to additional potential supporters. This text is designed to be continuously expanded in the future, so as to further incorporate increasingly sensitive analyses along with a growing pool of creative ideas and recommendations.

Milyen messze terjed Budapest befolyása? Hogyan hatott a „menekültválság" a regionális együttműködésre? E tanulmány fontos háttérinformációkkal, tényekkel és adatokkal ismerteti meg az olvasót a „menekültválság” elmúlt három évéről, és annak társadalmi, politikai, szakpolitikai és diplomáciai utóhatásairól. Az Orbán-kormány menekültekkel, menedék- és migrációs ügyekkel kapcsolatos retorikáját és szakpolitikai lépéseit elemzi, de be is mutatja azok regionális kontextusát.

How far does Budapest's influence extend? How has the "refugee crisis" affected regional cooperation? This study gives background information, facts and data on the last three years of the “refugee crisis”: its social, political, policy and diplomatic repercussions. An analysis of the Orbán government’s rhetoric and policy measures with regard to refugee, asylum and migration issues, highlighting the regional context.

The Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung commissioned a study by Political Capital entitled “Focus on Hungary: Refugees, Asylum and Migration”. The authors of the study analyse the Orbán Government’s rhetoric and policy measures with regard to refugee, asylum and migration issues. 

The Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung has commissioned the second volume of the study to furtherexamine existing and new tendencies of Hungarian youth regarding their political choices and the reasons behind them. While previously only students who reside in the country were in the focus, the scope of this recent study has been extended to include the political involvement and attitudes of that part of the Hungarian youth who already are emigrating or are planning to soon move abroad.

Why the Russian regime and the Hungarian far right are in an intimate relationship: a new study by Political Capital and Social Development Institute.

Nearly 25 years have passed since the collapse of communism in Hungary. Has this period allowed for the emergence of a new generation of democrats? Have young people successfully come to terms with the authoritarian past and developed a commitment to democracy as a system of rule?

Since the transition, the liberal democratic system has produced a strong economic socialization effect on young Hungarians, educating them to become “good consumers” who have to a large extent embraced the goods offered by the global cultural and entertainment industry. In cooperation with the Heinrich Böll Foundation the Political Capital Institute prepared a study with a view to getting a better grasp of the factors underpinning widespread disillusionment with ‘democracy’, and uncovering the reasons behind the low levels of political activity among young people in Hungary.