Hungary: sudden democracy or incomplete transition?

• Author: Mahoney, Kate

Editor's note: Unlike other Eastern Bloc countries, Hungary maintained ties to the West even in its years behind the Iron Curtain. Although Hungary's developing democracy is still caught between the East and the West, it has made a clear political departure from communism and looks to the West, not only for investment from foreign companies, but for assistance in setting up a new government.

Dr. Tibor Soos, secretary general of the Hungarian Parliament, introduces himself with squared shoulders and a quick handshake, last name first, in the formal Hungarian fashion. He begins to explain the Hungarian Parliament, the immense changes it has undergone since 1985 and projections for its success as a democratic institution.

"After each world war we under-went a forced change. After World War I it was fascism, and after World War II it was communism. Now we have a historic opportunity to have changes happen peacefully. The United States helped rebuild Europe after World War II with the Marshall Plan. Now there is an opportunity for the United States to help in peaceful restructuring with, materially, a small investment. We welcome American support."

The Year of Incomplete Changes

The first multi-party election in 40 years marked 1990 as "the year of sudden democracy." The transition from state socialism to privatization began in earnest that year with parliamentary elections, the lifting of price controls and easier laws regulating foreign investment.

Hungary never endured the harsh communist models of other Eastern European countries. Referred to as the "ballerina of the East Bloc," Hungary retained a relatively high level of privatization. Private shops, bars, restaurants, pensions and hotels operated openly during the communist years. "Dollar shops," displaying Western appliances and hard-to-get specialty items, accepted Western currencies for their wares. Farmers' markets allowed the country's food growers a chance for profit. In fact, even though farming collectives were formed in Hungary along the Soviet model, the state maintained records of ownership rather than obliterating them as was done in other countries. By the 1980s the press operated freely for readers willing to look between the lines. In fact, the last Communist president, Miklos Nemeth (now the vice president), studied five semesters of economics at Harvard University, hardly a bastion of communist thought.

Still, the Communist Party dominated politics in the years following World War II, although by the 1980s many members were active in politics because of their high ranking positions as factory or school directors rather than their ideological leaning. Another political organization, The People's Front, involved many nonparty academics and intellectuals in local and national "committees" on subjects of national interest such as economics, law and the environment. This organization offered nonparty members the chance to share information as well as to be involved in a political organization and to learn political skills.

Before 1990, members of Parliament were selected in one-party elections every five years. Parliament members convened three or four times a year for only a few days. The sumptuous Parliament buildings served as a showcase of democracy where no true democracy existed. Members of Parliament received a healthy stipend and held other full-time positions. Being a deputy was a position with privileges, but not a job. Yet this Parliament was crucial in making the transition to democracy if not smooth at least without violence.

What seemed like "sudden democracy" to outsiders was in fact a long process involving internal and external pressures on the Communist Party that came to a head in 1989. Reform-minded individuals within the party had begun to sense the weakness of the chief secretary and, in turn, began to change the organization's structure. A popular movement, the Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF), organized and began to grow. In 1988 this movement held a meeting attended by the head of The People's Front, signaling its legitimacy and its acceptance by the Communist government.

By January 1989, Parliament guaranteed all workers the right to strike. In February, it passed crucial laws granting the right to demonstrate freely and the right to form associations and political parties--both critical steps in moving toward a pluralistic society.

Throughout 1989 members of the Parliament began a series of negotiations with opposition...