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• Electoral Systems in East Central Europe

  26-50

  Gyorgy Fabian

  Views:

  47

  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.

• The 2019 local elections in Szeged

  52-66

  György Fábián

  Views:

  45

  The 2019 local, municipal election outclasses the second-order elections in the given political constellation. This is especially true in the case of Szeged, where the opposition – unlike the situation at the national level – has the power for a long time. To change this situation, the governing parties, taking advantage of their dominant position – and using all means – conducted a very vigorous campaign, changing the city into a battlefield. According to the results, the governemt’s attempt was not successfull, it was rather contraproductive. The reigning mayor and city management won an unprecedented victory. The root cause of it is a special urban policy which extracted the local politics from the partyfights and overrode party interests, and which represented the interests of the city succesfully and with credibility even against cross-wind. Based on the cooperation of the entire opposition the implemented urban policy is symbolized by and embodied in the person of the mayor in office since 2002.