The subject of this work is in description of the development and analysis of the logic of the Hungarian regime after 2010, as well as the changes that occurred after the victory of Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party in parliamentary election. In this work, there fundamental research questions will be examined for this purpose, i. e. (1) What constitutional changes have occurred in Hungary and what are their consequences (?), (2) How did the electoral system change and what was the logic and impact of this change (?) and at the same time (3) What character and why is the current regime in Hungary (?). Keywords: Hungary; Illiberal Democracy; Constitution

The temptation of illiberal democracy in the postcommunist Europe Abstract This thesis deals with the concept of illiberal democracy. In the first half it sums up the debate from which the concept arose. It describes the difference between liberalism and democracy and it also explains how these two concepts are interconnected. It describes the concept of defective democracies as conceived by Wolfgang Merkel. I also outline the constitutional aspects of the debate about illiberal democracy. In the second half the text applies Merkel's theoretical framework to analyse the cases of Poland and Hungary. The period of time, that was chosen, starts with the moment when parties Law and Justice and Fidesz gained majorities large enough for profound institutional changes. The period ends with activation of article 7 of the Treaty on European union. The text follows the structure of the Merkel's criteria. It analyses, how the voting rights and free access to power were preserved in both countries, if the political decisions are taken by elected representants, if there is a mutual control between the institutions and to what degree can the state power intervene into the private sphere of the citizens. I conclude that both Poland and Hungary could not be called liberal democracies in the period under review. The Polish...

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Diploma thesis "The Transition Towards Democracy and its Problematic Aspects in Geo-Politic Perspective " deals with the theory of democracy, the transition towards democracy and the political development in specific regions. The aim of this thesis is to summarize both general thoeretical concepts about the topic and current studies about illiberal democracies in the 21st century. My thesis starts with the analysis of the meaning of the term liberal democracy as well as the term modern nation state, whereas the emphasis is given on the conditions to be found beyond both. This is followed by the introduction to main transition concepts. Within the logic of my topic it is stressed especially the nature of removed political regime which could be crucial for the outcome of the transition. My diploma thesis deals also with an institutional engineering which is often overlooked but of high importance. The question of hybrid regimes is closely linked to previous topic because it can help us to undestand all problematic aspects of transition. Last chapter is dedicated to specific African regimes which are usually hidden in a shadow of interest of politican science. I will argue that the very analysis of their nature can prove the importance of functional political institutions as a base for succesfull...

This thesis examines the impact of one party dominant systems on liberal democracy in developing countries. It is insufficient to argue that one party dominant systems – systems where one party dominates over a prolonged period - need not be further scrutinised because they occur within democracies. Instead it is contended that the term ‘democracy’ is but one public virtue in a political system and thus needs to be prefixed for it to have meaning beyond a method of government selection. The importance of this is highlighted when looking at two major trends in the understanding of democracy. The first is democracy as rule by the people -a non-authoritarian democracy- where governmental control is limited, and agents of voice and accountability are protected. Voice and accountability refers to citizens being able to exercise power over the process of decision-making and not merely power to select decision-makers. The second type of democracy is rule for the people -an authoritarian democracy- where governmental control extends over all spheres of society, and the operating space for agents of voice and accountability is constrained. Since unchecked centralisation is the anti-thesis of a non-authoritarian democracy, the observed tendency of dominant parties to use their predominant position to further consolidate their control is a concern. The apprehension is, as power is centralised so the operating space of agents of voice and accountability (including political and civil society) is constrained. Despite differences in the type of one party dominant system, whether they be hegemonic (Mexico) or dominant (South Africa) the ruling dominant/ hegemonic party uses similar methods of consolidating dominance – they essentially centralise power through the establishment of (1) economic, (2) political, and sometimes (3) ideological monopolies. These monopolies are established using internal and external methods of control (centralising of political power; party controlled process of political leadership selection; institutional arrangements and electoral amendments, which favour the ruling party; patronage and corporatism), which in turn effectively close down or limit the operating space of civil and political society, especially in developing countries which do not have histories of liberal-constitutionalism, and have vast socio-economic inequalities making them especially susceptible to the manipulation of ruling elites. Although one party dominant systems may initially have a uniting, stabilising effect, if continued they tend to lead towards either the entrenchment of authoritarianism or the establishment of authoritarianism, since dominance is achieved at the expense of competition, and independent and alternative voices. Uncompetitive democracies result in unresponsive governments. Pursuing a liberal democracy, while simultaneously monopolising power is to indulge in serious programmatic contradictions. Eventually something has to give and it is usually liberal democracy. Voice and accountability inevitably become inhibited in one party dominant systems due to the mechanisms of internal and external control used by the dominant or hegemonic party. These mechanisms of control culminate in, as they did in Mexico, there being ‘no life outside the ruling party’. Only when the economic, political and ideological monopolies are dismantled through either economic liberalisation, opposition maintaining its integrity, civil society keeping its independence and societies refusing to be drawn into relationships of patronage, can the space for voice and accountability be prised open again. In the interests of its citizens and the future success of its country, the ruling party of a one party dominant system needs to recognise that it is not the sole channel for the voice of its citizens and to acknowledge the space for agents of voice and accountability. Ensuring that non-authoritarian democracy remains the only game in town in a one party dominant system requires responsive and accountable government and effective agents of voice and accountability. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Political Sciences / unrestricted

The phenomenon of political marketing entered - together with democratic political competition - the Czech Republic after 1989. Together with parliamentary elections in 2006 a strong negative election campaigns appeared. The parliamentary elections in 2007 proved a stalemate and they launched a long period of political instability. An unusually sharp and mostly negative election campaign proceeded in the Czech Republic continuously during the years 2006 - 2010. For the first time foreign advisory firms prepared strategies for the biggest political parties - ČSSD and ODS. The election campaigns were characteristic not only of mass enter of negativism imported by the foreign consultants, but also of a great number of anonymous mocking and defamatory political advertisements, the customer and the payer of which was unknown and unable to find. The negative campaigns then introduced both the question of ethical limits in the election marketing and of the harmful influence of opaqueness in contracting and financing the campaigns. The thesis is dealing with regularities of political marketing which got control of Czech political scene in 2006 - 2010, and it formulates hypotheses about the possible effecs of negative, defamatory and mocking political campaigns on the environment of Czech public politics.