The purpose of this paper is to define and show the nature and functions of the referendum in
general, and to examine the legislative regulation of its institution in Hungary after 2013.
The brief introduction will be followed by an analysis of some of the institutional and
instrumental features of the referendum in the context of the constitutional law. Special attention
will be paid to the question raised by, and to the pros and cons of the referendum held in 2016.
The legal aspects and social consequences of this invalid referendum will be emphasized.

The democratic transition in Eastern and Central Europe provides a good opportunity to
examine how to apply the findings of the science of elections in a new dimension. This study
based on 167 elections in 23 countries shows the formation, evolution and political consequences
of the new electoral systems. The hypothesis of the paper is that the elections and electoral
systems in this region not always correspond to the conventional wisdom. Our analysis divides
into five parts the region (Central Europe, Western and Eastern Balkans, Baltic States and the
other former republics of Soviet Union). This division helps to get an sophisticatad picture about
the emergence and changes of the new electoral systems. By showing country by country we can
demonstrate the similarities and differences between and within subgroups as well. Finally
using three well-known indices (least square index, effective electoral and parliamentary
number of parties) the study summarizes – country by country and subgroups by subgroups by
type – the political consequences for the proportionality and party structure. The analysis of the
167 elections demonstrates that Eastern and Central Europe does not show uniformity regarding
the political consequences of the electoral systems. Their influence is more moderate than in the
established democracies and they are also much more volatile. Their changes have shown rather
diverging than converging trend in the last quarter century. The conventional findings are
difficult to apply for this region, they are only partially valid, especially the formation of party
structure differ from the previous experiences. In sum the Eastern and Central European elections
do not invalidate the conventional statements of the elctoral studies but they offen do not show
corresponding image. So they significantly contribute to the further development and refinement
of the previous findings.

Throughout the campaign and following the elections of 2016, the two major political parties
cherished stories about what happened, and why it happened. Some of these stories have some
basis in fact, while others are completely mythical, and nevertheless believed. These stories, or
myths, arise from the political desires and belief systems of those who tell them. In what follows
we will examine these stories in the lights of the facts

I examine the US presidential election of 2016 and how hidden groups related to the alt-right
manipulated the social media with hoaxes and memes. I examine some of the media platforms
and forums where these contents mainly appeared during the campaign and I also present the
anatomy of the groups’ previous actions, and from these I attempt to demonstrate that their
efforts are coordinated and their methods have become more sophisticated in the recent years.

Modern democracies, based on pluralism, recognize and affirm diversity, permit peaceful
coexistence of different interests, values and convictions, and advocate a form of political
moderation. For democracy to function and to be successful two of the most challenging
questions must be raised and answered: Who have the right for collective decision-making?
What principle should be used for these people to be elected? With the development of modern
democracies it has become more and more accepted the idea that democracy should rest upon
the principle of majority rule, coupled with individual and minority rights. Majority rule thus
refers to the quantitative aspect of democracy, while individual and minority rights express
the qualitative or constitutional aspect of it. A detailed analysis of democratic decision-making
processes shows that not all decisions made by legislature – whose members are elected by the
majority of the people – are effective and good decisions, and points at the fact that most of the
democratic decisions are not made by the majority but by minority groups, who quite often take
the initiative and can seriously influence the majority. This paper focuses on these issues.

Modernity is the sum of the fragmented cultural systems of meaning, that are mutually influential
on each other, plus of economic and political relations continually changing and transforming –
a complexity that manifests itself in the structure of the (world) risk society even on the level of
the individual. Following the late modern turn, the phenomenon of the means and opportunities
determining the ability of choice is not being shared equally, but multiplied as regards global
actors, as well as choice of identity, perceptibility of risks and facing them. The study presents
the new inequality factors and the asymmetric power relations of the late modernity along the
works by the recently died sociologists of the globalization theory (Ulrich Beck and Zygmunt
Bauman). In the world risk society, each community and individual bear the risks indifferently.
Accordingly, the ascertainments of the study are that the globalised economy and the subjects
of the local poverty do not possess the same degree of the freedom of maneuvering. In order
to demonstrate this and also to identify each postmodern life-strategy, the study relies on the
works on identity by the discussed sociologists. According to the latter, the study concludes, that
the reflexivity of the risk is the most profitable for those who are in the high position of the new
inequality, thus, have the power to determine conflicts generated by them and inflict them on
those excluded from the struggle of definition of risk.

Replika, 2015/1–2, 90–91. sz.

K. Horváth Zsolt: Az emlékezet betegei. A tér-idő társadalomtörténeti
morfológiájához. Kijárat Kiadó, Budapest, 2015, p. 384.

Borsos Béla: Az új Gyűrűfű
Az ökofalu koncepciója és helye a fenntartható
település- és vidékfejlesztésben
L’Harmattan, Budapest, 2016, p. 247.

Stefano Bottoni: A várva várt Nyugat. Kelet-Európa története
1944-tól napjainkig. MTA Bölcsészettudományi Kutatóközpont,
Történettudományi Intézet, Budapest, 2014, p. 362.

Debreceni Egyetem Állam és Jogtudományi Kara – DELA Könyvkiadó Kft.,
Debrecen, 2014, p. 145.

Scheibner Tamás: A magyar irodalomtudomány szovjetizálása. A szocialista realista
kritika és intézményei 1945–1953. Ráció Kiadó, Budapest, 2014, p. 316.

Rácz Andrea: Gyermekvédelem mint fragmentált társadalmi intézmény.
Debreceni Egyetemi Kiadó, Debrecen, 2016, p. 190.