This blog is provided by the Common Sense Society of Budapest as an online, English-language platform for the publication and exchange of diverse and differing perspectives about Hungarian politics, economy, and culture. The views represented here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of CSS. The Common Sense Society does not receive funding from any government entity or political party.
In the April 2010 parliamentary elections, Fidesz won a two-thirds parliamentary majority, which marked the apex of the party’s transformation from a radical youth organization to a center-right, catch-all party which encompasses all social groups. As I argue in my new book, Fidesz and the Reinvention of the Hungarian Center Right, this development has been [...]
In the West, there is a fierce debate about the legitimacy of “feminism”: has the women’s liberation movement largely succeeded in attaining its objectives? Or has women’s de jure equality failed to bring about de facto equity?
In a recent, bizarre attempt to delegitimize the current government, Professor Charles Gati and Miklos Haraszti backed by former U.S. Ambassador to Hungary Mark Palmer published an op-ed in the Washington Post calling for the re-establishment of Radio Free Europe (RFE) in Hungary. The goal: to preserve media and democratic pluralism. Gati, who has floated the outrageous [...]
“They were just conservative enough to hate liberals but not enough to love liberty.” (John Lukacs) The ongoing disputes surrounding the Fidesz-KDNP government’s policies unfortunately mask deep problems within the Hungarian political scene.
The Marxists dismissed individualism as an ideology that supposedly served the capitalist, thereby aiming to destroy the most efficient social engine of productivity—free market capitalism which unleashes the enormous energy of individual initiative and entrepreneurship. We are, sadly, still in the grips of the big lie that individualism is some kind of insidious and destructive ideology.
The present Hungarian right has only one common integrated feature and that is its anti-communism. This is becoming less and less powerful in a democratic political rivalry. As a result, conservatism has weak but slowly developing positions. The steps in…
Klub Radio, the by now infamous left-wing radio station in Hungary, has launched yet another desperate attempt this week in Brussels to convince international public opinion and policy makers that its fate is the sole measure of “freedom and pluralism” in Hungarian media. Klub Radio, which advertises itself as the only talk radio station with [...]
Hungarians ought to defend the fact that they have the right to fashion their own constitution and that the new constitution reflects the political will of the Hungarian people.
Unlike some European allies, Hungary will not pull its forces from Afghanistan prior to the planned U.S. withdrawal in 2014. Despite financial woes and political transition at home, Hungary has been firmly committed to the NATO/ISAF mission…
As a Hungarian-speaking, outside observer of Hungarian politics and public affairs with strong conservative sensibilities, I have often wondered what to make of Hungary’s “two-thirds revolution” and its recent constitutional accomplishments. Those who have been following the public discourse surrounding the Fidesz led government’s travails know that much of the reaction both inside and outside [...]
