Discussion. On the Role of Hungarian Politics in the 21st Century.On the Role of Hungarian Politics and Political Science in the 21st Century Cover Image

Körkérdés a politikáról. A politika szerepe a 21. században.A politika és a politológia 21. századi Magyarországon betöltött szerepéről
Discussion. On the Role of Hungarian Politics in the 21st Century.On the Role of Hungarian Politics and Political Science in the 21st Century

Author(s): Péter Kende, Tibor Löffler
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences
Published by: MTA Politikai Tudományi Intézete

Summary/Abstract: KENDE, PÉTER On the Role of Hungarian Politics in the 21st Century In his answer to the questions one and two Peter Kende, foreign member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Chairman of the Editorial Board of this review, points out that since the end of the last century governments of the civilized world are confronted with problems that never before came to the political agenda (such as global temperature or the possible manipulation of human genetical character). The emerging of these problems calls for a new kind of political competence which has nothing to do with ordinary conflict management and cannot work without strong ethical presuppositions. There is also a need for a new type of political leader, not entirely bound by local interests, and Kende asks wether this is conceivable within the current democratic model. LÖFFLER, TIBOR On the Role of Hungarian Politics and Political Science in the 21st Century Hungarian people have “antipolitical” attitudes due to the “depoliticizing” political culture of the former communist regime. These attitudes are strengthened by the rhetoric of the political class and elites referring to other political actors as “the politics” and reducing politics to state affairs and party politics. The Hungarian political system is elitist democracy. The media functioning between the politics and the people has a very bad effect on the democracy because of the manipulation, (self) censorship, dependency on or playing up with politics. Political scientists should deal with the postcommunist political cultural legacy, the elitism and the political role of the media. Political scientists fail to make systematic analyses or even descriptions about rationale and “laws” of the plural (pluralist) democracy and competitive party systems. Some tend to deal with the politics at rather abstract level or to moralize, while peoples can not to make head or tail of real politics. The Hungarian political science is reluctant to discuss the “dark side” of the Hungarian politics. Well known facts are ignored: illegal fact finding and investigation, political blackmailing, stooges built in rival organizations and disintegrating by them, venal politicians and votes, corruption, bribing, “buying up” anyone or organizations, illegal slush funds. The Hungarian political science is divided by political cleavages. Therefore the political history of left wing governments should be written by “right wing” political scientists, and the right wing governments by “leftists”

  • Issue Year: 2006
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 167-178
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: Hungarian