Participatory democracy in Hungary: Out of practice due to lack of interest. In: Marczin Moskalewicz; Wojchiech Przybylski (eds): Understanding Central Europe. London, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2018. pp. 329-335. (original) (raw)

Participatory Democracy: International and European Tendencies, Constitutional Framework in Visegrad Countries, Hungarian Instruments and Experiences. Iustum Aequum Salutare XI, 2015/3. p. 51-66.

Participatory democracy, Aarhus Convention, European Citizens' Initiative (ECI), Visegrad Countries, Hungary, national referendum, popular initiative, popular consultation, social participation, local referendum, public hearing, village meeting, communal policy forum, municipal policy forum, popular participation in environmental issues

Enhancing Local-Level Democratic Processes Within a Hybrid Regime: Insights Into Participatory Budgeting From Józsefváros, Budapest

CORVINUS JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY AND SOCIAL POLICY, 2024

Our study describes a rigorous evaluation of the participatory budgeting (PB) initiative in Józsefváros, Budapest, for the years 2022 and 2023, examining its capacity to enhance democratic mechanisms within a semi-autocratic, hybrid regime. We contextualize PB in the broader landscape of participatory democracy, drawing parallels between global practices and Hungary-specific dynamics. Utilizing a comprehensive comparative methodology, we explore three critical dimensions: the evolution of participation, the trajectories of ideation, and patterns in voter behavior. Our findings reveal measurable growth in Józsefváros’s PB across these domains, noting increased participant engagement, voter turnout, and idea diversity. This underscores the potential for enhancing democratic participation even in illiberal regimes. Nonetheless, the impact of this emerging initiative remains concentrated within a specific subset of the Józsefváros populace, highlighting the imperative of deploying broader and more inclusive strategies to ensure its sustainability.

From Deliberation to Pure Mobilisation? The Case of National Consultations in Hungary

Politics in Central Europe, 2022

National or supranational consultations on general policy questions are unusual phenomena. Nevertheless, they seem to play an important role in the political life of the community either because they might be considered as rudimentary forms of deliberative practices or because they are important strategic tools in the hands of political actors. Given this salience of consultations from both normative deliberative and descriptive strategic perspectives, it is surprising that academic analyses of national consultations are scarce. This paper tries to fill this gap in the literature by focusing on one of the most well known examples of nation wide consultations, the series of na tional consultations in Hungary. It aims to present why national consultations gradually lost their deliberative character and how they have been transformed into a strategic instrument for mobilising supporters.

The Public Participation in the Drafting of Legislation in Hungary

2016

The legitimacy of legislation is a crucial for modern democracies. This paper provides a brief but detailed description and legal, quantitative analysis of this process, drawing attention to the most significant Hungarian techniques. According to the main provisions of Act CXXXI of 2010 on public participation in the drafting of legislation, public consultations are to be carried out within the framework of general or direct consultations. The general consultation is mandatory and open for the public, all draft bills, governmental decrees and ministerial decrees drafted by ministries are to be published on the Government’s webpage. The direct consultation is based on strategic partnerships between the relevant ministries and stakeholder, outstanding organisations. In Hungary, it is the responsibility of the minister competent to draft the legislation to open and conduct public consultation and to process the received comments. These mandatory and optional processes strengthen the legitimacy and the acceptance of legislation, as a consequence of this the legal provisions meet with the social requirements, and they can be applied as a best practice for other countries.

Direct Democracy in Hungary (1989-2016): from Popular Sovereignty to Popular Illusion

2017

Since 1989, there have been organized seven national referenda related to thirteen questions in Hungary. Based on the content of the questions raised, one can draw a line of evolution in the history of the institution: the symbolic political issues of the transition and democracy-building were followed by the country's main strategic aims. Later, national referenda functioned as instruments of outsourced daily political debate between government and opposition, while at present-based on practice-national referendum can be considered as a typical instrument of plebiscitarian direct democracy. Moreover, during this period, sixteen questions were set on the National Assembly's agenda based on successful popular initiatives. Since 2010, the legislative and the executive power's approach to direct democracy has radically transformed. The Government started to use frequently the so-called national consultation in important legislative issues-a misleading communication tool which has no legal background. Besides, based on the new Fundamental Law of Hungary (2011) and the new Act on Electoral Procedure (2013), the possibility of a successful national referendum has been greatly restricted: there is prescribed as a necessary condition for a valid result that the majority of the voters should cast a valid vote. This condition was barely reached twice in the preceding period. Furthermore, the institution of popular initiative is not part of the legal system anymore. These trends are demonstrating that the classic tools of direct democracy are losing their relevance, while populist instruments are used more frequently in practice. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the contemporary debate related to this challenge .

Mostar Citizens' Assembly. The First Deliberative Process in Southeast Europe. Case Study

Deliberation in the Public Policies Planning Process. Experiences and Future Challenges, 2022

The purpose of this paper is to present the elements of deliberative participatory governance using the example of citizens' assembly that has become more and more popular worldwide example of mini-public. My analysis is based on exemplification of the process performed in 2021 in the city of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was the first citizens' assembly held in Southeast Europe and it focused on cleanliness and public space maintenance in the city. The paper takes the form of a case study and it does not aim to provide the comprehensive analysis of deliberative processes occurring during citizens' assemblies. The paper consists of the five following parts: (I) introduction; (II) presentation of methodological assumptions the analysis was based on; (III) theory-oriented reflections on deliberative democratic institutions, particularly citizens' assembly; (IV) case study for the City of Mostar; and (V) my conclusions.