KAPUNYITÁSI PÁNIK A választási rendszer reformjának hatása a pártok piacára,1990 és 2014 között
DOOR-OPENING PANIC – THE IMPACT OF THE REFORM OF THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM ON THE MARKET OF PARTIES (1990–2014)ABSTRACT

Summary/Abstract: The article concerns the entry barriers in Hungarian political markets since the regime change of 1990. First, it delineates the markets corresponding to the different levels of the “political pyramid”, namely the markets for participation, parties and government. Following the cue from industrial organization theory it continues with an analysis of entry barriers, hard and soft, along with their operationalization for empirical research. Two hypotheses are examined in this context. On the one hand, it is assumed that electoral reforms involving higher entry barriers induce lower participation in the market for parties and vice versa. According to the empirical section this assumption holds for the period in question as the only major upheaval in the electoral system in the 2010–2014 governing cycle duly led to dramatic changes in the number of party lists. On the other hand, the proposition is made that for the incumbent on the market for government electoral reform serves the purpose of electoral success by manipulating entry barriers. This hypothesis was also confirmed as the ruling Fidesz party ushered in strategically motivated modifi -cations to the electoral system. Based on this analysis, the ideal types of in cumbent and contender strategies are formulated with respect to electoral reform in particular,, and entry barriers in general.

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