The study presents in brief the life of Imre Mikó, lawyer, author of several significant works of legal literature in the field of minority rights in inter-war Transylvania, who was also, briefly, a member of the Hungarian Parliament. The life and activity of Imre Mikó may be divided into two major periods. Before the Second World War, as a student of law and theology, and later as a minority rights advocate he distinguished himself with a wide array of interests, both in the field of law and politics. He was appointed to the minority protection service of the Hungarian Community in this period. His activity was interrupted by the advent of World War Two. During the war, he fell into captivity, and, after his release from the Soviet Union, he attempted to resume his political and advocacy carrier only to be side-lined, spending almost two decades in the menial occupation of bookshop clerk. His belated and partial rehabilitation following his appointment as chief curator of the Unitarian Church is described in the study. The study also makes mention of the newly discovered information regarding the fact that Imre Mikó, under significant duress, collaborated with the Securitate, while at the same time he was himself under surveillance.
My current study's main focus concentrates on the political parties and organizations of Vojvodina (officially: Autonomous Province of Vojvodina), from their earliest movements –dating back to the events of the Eastern-European democratic transformations –to nowadays' situation. To establish the topic I consider it quite important to emphasize and give a general view about the possibilities of advocation available during the reign of the previous regime as well as the main characteristics of the Southern Slavic minority politics. Beginning with the 1990s, in the northern territory of Serbia, we witnessed the formation of one of the most complex and complicated party relations existing in the Carpathian Basin between Hungarian parties, due to which the majority of the divided community turned away from the parties declaredly representing their interest. I will attempt to discuss the course events in a chronological order, exploring the reason and origin of the animosity lying between these organizations. Although the autocracy of Milošević had been abolished for over ten years, most of the original goals of these parties have not been met as of yet. Despite this, there is no prospect of cooperation among them, though the underlying cause is not an ideological one but the very reason of nearly two-decade-long individual oppositions.
Míg a populizmus korábban csak a szélsőséges pártokra volt jellemző, addigra mostanra általánossá vált, hogy számos ország belpolitikájának alkotják meghatározó elemét. A szakirodalomból azonban nem egyértelmű, hogy mely tényezők vezettek el ezeknek a pártoknak a megerősödéséhez, részben az eltérő minták és eltérő becslési eljárások miatt. A tanulmány három csoportra bontja azokat a változókat, amelyek befolyással vannak a populista pártok térnyerésére: gazdasági okok; bizalmon alapuló változók; kulturális tényezők. A tanulmány arra a következtetésre jut, hogy a regionális és választói heterogenitás miatt nehezen hasonlíthatók össze az adatok, emiatt kontinenseken átívelő panel adatokra lenne szükség, hogy általános ok-okozati kapcsolatot lehessen alkotni a populizmus térnyerésének okairól. = While populism in the past was associated mainly with radical parties, by today they have become a part of the political mainstream in many countries. However, looking at the literature it is unclear what factors have led the rise in populist demand. A problem when trying to understand the causal relationship is, that large econometric analyses which were conducted over the past 5 years use different samples and measurement methods. This article will investigate three groups of reasons which may have led to the increase in populist demand: economic reasons; trust reasons and cultural factors. The article finds that because of regional and electoral heterogeneity it is not really possible to compare data from Europe with that of the USA, therefore before any general conclusions can be drawn it would be useful to have panel data across continents.
Ukraine's division today is mostly a consequence of its peripheral status: throughout the course of history the Ukrainians should (have) achieve(d) independence and the establishment of a sovereign state in the political vacuum that developed due to the rivalry of the neighboring great powers. In the East-European region Ukraine did have a state several times for a short period and in a much debated way, but it only gained complete sovereignity in 1991, while Russia had considered Ukraine, which "voluntarily joined" the empire in 1654, part of the Russian state. What has also contributed to Ukraine's division and the belated establishment of a state was that it did not have a unified national identity: in East- and Central Ukraine, which were continuously under Russian rule from the middle of the 17th century, a strong national movement could never develop. Then, following the partition of Poland, when West-Ukraine – with the exception of Galicia – became part of Russia, most of the Ukrainian territories belonged to – but did not comprise – one state. In Galicia, which was the western border of the eastern Slavic territories and was under the considerably liberal rule of Austria, and was called "the Ukrainian Piedmont", a stronger national self-consciousness developed after 1772. That is why it was there that the idea of a unified Ukrainian state was conceived first, the realization of which, however, took more than a hundred years, because of the division and weak national consciousness of the Ukrainians.
In his study the author deals with the question of the corporative organization of the young Slovenian state. In the first part of his writing the author presents the theory and development of corporative ideas after WWII. He sums up the main theories of Philippe C. Schmitter and Gerhard Lehmbruch, the two main thinkers of modern corporatism and shows how these theories influenced the development of societal/liberal corporatism. The author introduces the concept of concertation, the new decision-making process of the modern corporative state and differentiates it from the classic pressure politics of liberalism. After the theoretical background in the second part of his study the author gives an introspection into the forms of Slovenian corporative cooperation. First of all, he describes the main organizations of the tripartite political processes: the employers' chambers and associations (e.g. Gospodarska zbornica Slovenije, Trgovinska zbornica Slovenije, Združenje delodajalcev Slovenije) and the employees' unions (e.g. Zveza svobodnih sindikatov Slovenije, Konfedearcija sindikatov Slovenije Pergam, Konfederacija sindikatov 90 Slovenije). At the end of his work he shows the function of the classical corporative forums in Slovenia: the Economic and Social Council (Ekonomsko-socialni svet Slovenije, ESSS) and the National Council (Državni Svet). The author's conclusions are unambiguous: after the successful achievement of independence and freedom, Slovenia managed to create one of the most effective organizational models of modern (societal/liberal) corporatism and uses the process of concertation fruitful for his economic stability and social welfare.
The representative of the Hungarian peace delegation took over the final regulations of the peace conference that closed the I. World War, in the beginning of May 1920. The peace treaty dislocated Hungary and with the disannexed territories millions of Hungarians were forced to live in the neighbouring countries. The Hungarian government could react for this dramatic and significant event in two ways: on one hand accept and undersign, on the other side refuse its signatory. After a long debate, the government and the assembly –notwithstanding the public"s dismissal –were under the necessity of the pressure of the victorious powers, and made up their mind of signature. This study leads on this decisionmaking progress, on the strength of the elaboration and analysis of the reports of the government meetings in May 1920. The first part of the study shows debates in the meetings of the cabinet council and the political circumstances of the decision. The second part, in turn, shows the dramatic progress of the decisionmaking, as a result of which they pointed the representatives, whose task was the signature on the 4th June 1920 in the Castle of Grand Trianon. As a part of this, the study examines the personal decisions, the possible signatories, the ones who previously undertook the task. The study furnishes an answer for the controversial question, that why Dr. Ágost Benárd, welfare and labour minister and Alfréd Drasche-Lázár, extraordinary delegate were chosen by the government for the signature.
The President of Croatia is elected to a five-year term by a direct vote of all citizens, with a majority vote required to win. Since Croatia's independence the country has got three elected presidents. The first presidential election was held on 2 August 1992 and resulted in victory for Franjo Tuđman of the HDZ, who received 57.8 percent of the vote in the first round of the election. Tuđman introduced a semi-presidential system and won the second term in 1997. The next two presidential elections took place in 2000 and in 2005 and Stjepan Mesić, the candidate of the Croatian People's Party won the office. In 2010 Ivo Josipović became the 3rd President of Croatia, becoming the first social democratic president since the independence of the country. On 11th January 2015, in the second round Croatians people elected Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović a member of the center-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) as the new President of the Republic of Croatia. Her main opponent in the runoff was the outgoing president Ivo Josipović nominated by the center-left Social Democratic Party (SDP) and supported by the government's parties. This election gathers a lot of records: for the first time a woman has been elected President, for the first time the outgoing President is not confirmed for a second mandate and Grabar-Kitarović is the first HDZ 's President after Tuđman. In addition the presidential election regarded as the foreplay to the more pressing and important upcoming November parliamentary election and there could be lots of changes at political level.
The lessons learned from the crisis management of the 2008 Great Recession are due to significant structural differences between the two centers of the world, the United States and the eurozone. This has been the worst and most widespread global economic downturn since the Great Depression. The crisis is over, but it seems that the crisis has long-lasting consequences. In the case of the United States, a monetary, fiscal and political union is realized, which with a single economic policy, operates as a coherent unit, uniting the three areas. GDP is rising, unemployment is at the lowest level since 1969 and government debt is the highest it has ever been which can cause problems in the long run. In the case of the eurozone, we can talk about a monetary union. The crisis has highlighted the structural flaws of the eurozone, because without a unified fiscal policy no effective economic policy can be achieved. The symptoms of the euro area crisis weren't the consequences of the global economic crisis; rather the stalling of the integration process, the lack of real convergence, and the weaknesses of monetary and fiscal policy were the problems that have been brought to the fore and exacerbated by the crisis. I consider the crisis management of the United States to be more successful, in which the single economic policy has played an important role – as long as the eurozone doesn't deepen integration, it will not be able to address vulnerabilities between its countries. For Central Europe to be competitive, it has to have the right economic policies and an independent monetary policy. The postcrisis recovery has taken place, but in order to avoid further crises and to have a faster convergence towards the eurozone, we need targeted steps which could create the opportunities.
Mátyás Rákosi, first secretary of the Hungarian Workers' Party, was forced to resign by soviet Politburo member Anastas Mikoyan on 18th July, 1956. He was followed by Ernő Gerő, who was also a hated man, responsible for all economic decisions in earlier years and taking part in a leadership which had committed serious crimes. He remained in power for three months only, until the October 1956 Revolution. Although Gerő announced political reforms, historians regard it only as a tactical step. This study suggests that these reforms, named "clear sheet", or "tabula rasa" policy, were in fact serious steps toward a "socialist democracy". What is more, these steps were not only announced but many of them was also taken. However, three months were not enough for Gerő to introduce all changes, because he was also engaged in neutralizing the activity of the party opposition lead by Imre Nagy's group. The study analyzes these reforms (e.g. increasing the role of the National Assembly, restoring the "socialist legality", decentralization, improving the living standards of the society, broadening the freedom of speech, giving greater support to the intellectuals etc.). To sum up, it can be stated that these reforms have a lot in common with the reforms of Imre Nagy in 1953. Surprisingly, it seems that the so-called "soft dictatorship" would have started much earlier, already in 1956, instead of 1963. The later reforms of János Kádár, introduced gradually in the 1960s (and sometimes only in the 1980s) probably originated also from this period of time, the Summer of'56. This study has much more questions than answers, its aim is to generate a new debate on Gerő's first secretariat hoping that a better understanding of this period can be reached. The most important questions are the following: why did the Revolution exacdy break out; how would it be possible to avoid it and, most interestingly, what would have happened if the Revolution did not break out at all?
The education has been exceedingly affected by the economic recession, the transformed state governance and the demographic waves, so the educational system of each country underwent some changes. The aim of my research is the comparative study of the educational systems in the East-Central European region. I examined the relationships between the different qualities, historical backgrounds, reforms and I explored the relationship between the current states of the systems (Karsten & Majoor, 1994; Lannert, 1998; Knell & Srholec, 2007; Horn & Sinka, 2007; Báthory, 2008; Dienes, 2007; Kelemen, 2010; Dakowska & Harmsenbert, 2015). My research questions are the following: What were the main reforms in the transformation of education systems? What similarities can be observed in the school systems of the countries? The region I studied is a specific East-Central European region, so the countries I have chosen are Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland. In my study, I have created three groups and I present the changes in the education systems of these countries, taking into consideration economic, social and political issues (Lannert, 2004; Kozma, 2006; Barber & Moirshed, 2007; Valuch, 2009; Kelemen, 2010; Jakubowski, 2015). Analyzing the results, it can be concluded that the regime change has enabled the countries to redefine themselves and find their new status in domestic and international politics, and also in world economy. The world economy situation created same problems for the states of the region, but their resources were different, so the public spending on education, the characteristics of education management and the infrastructure characteristics of the institutions were different. Among the main results, I have identified two groups during compulsory schooling, the first group being countries that introduce compulsory schooling up to the age of 6-15 years, and the other group consists of countries introducing compulsory schooling up to the age of 16. I have examined the curriculum regulation and the textbook market, it can be stated that, as a result of the reforms, new curricula were prepared, the textbooks were adapted according to these. Examining curriculum regulation is the result of countries striving for central regulation, but it has to be emphasized that there are countries that have integrated framework curricula and / or local curricula into a single national core curriculum, thus giving the opportunity to more autonomous management. In summary it can be concluded that the history of the countries studied and the development of their educational systems evolved similarly, however, differences can be observed by examining the different educational characteristics. My theoretical research can contribute to the discovery of the situation in Hungary and to the development tendencies and trends in the region.
Der Begriff 'Bildungsferne' – in Deutschland eher auf politischer als auf wissenschaftlicher Ebene verwendet – beschreibt mehr als das Fehlen (höherer) formaler Bildungsabschlüsse und ist deshalb nicht gleichzusetzen mit Geringqualifizierung. In seinem Zusammenhang steht auch die Frage nach den Bildungschancen, d.h. dem Zugang zu Bildungsmöglichkeiten. Bildungsferne bezeichnet damit zunächst eine Benachteiligung in Bezug auf Bildungschancen, v.a. gegründet auf soziodemographische Faktoren, wie soziale Herkunft und Sozialisation, regionale Herkunft, Migrationshintergrund, Alter, Behinderung etc. Wenn von bildungsfernen Gruppen die Rede ist, wird jedoch außerdem zumeist auf wirtschaftliche schwache, gering qualifizierte, lernungewohnte Bevölkerungsgruppen Bezug genommen, für die der Zugang zu (Weiter-)Bildungsmöglichkeiten aufgrund ihrer sozialen und ökonomischen Voraussetzungen eingeschränkt ist und in deren sozialen Milieus Bildung einen geringen Stellenwert einnimmt. m Rahmen eines interkulturellen Lehr-Forschungs-Projektes der Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena und der Eötvös-Loránd-Universität Budapest wurde in einer in beiden Ländern geführten empirischen Studie untersucht, ob Frauen in den beiden untersuchten Ländern eine bildungsferne Gruppe ausmachen, inwieweit Frauen in der ungarischen und der deutschen Gesellschaft heute noch benachteiligt sind und wie Bildung einer evtl. Benachteiligung entgegenwirken kann? Dazu wird zunächst die Situation von Frauen in der ungarischen und der deutschen Gesellschaft dargestellt und durch Gespräche mit Vertretern der Arbeitsämter sowie durch die Vorstellung von Bildungsangeboten speziell für Frauen in den beiden Ländern Antwort auf die Fragen gesucht. Weitere von anderen Gruppen in diesem Zwei-Länder-Projekt untersuchte Fragestellungen waren: o Potenziale des Alterns (http://www.db-thueringen.de/servlets/DocumentServlet?id=9749) o Fremdsprachenerwerb in der Erwachsenenbildung (http://www.db-thueringen.de/servlets/DocumentServlet?id=9894) *************************** ; The notion 'Bildungsferne' (appr. distance to learning), which is in Germany rather used on a political than on a scientific level, mainly describes the lack of (higher) formal educational achievements and is therefore not the same as lower qualification. Furthermore questions regarding the access to educational opportunities arise when examining this notion. First of all 'Bildungsferne' means discrimination with regard to educational opportunities, mainly based on sociodemographic factors, such as social background and socialization, regional provenance, migration background, age, disability, etc. When considering groups distal to learning one usually refers to people who are deprived, less qualified and who are not used to learning (anymore). Due to their social and economic prerequisites and because of the minor role which education plays within their social environment access to (further) educational opportunities is less important for this population group. In the context of an intercultural research project, which was realized by the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena and the Eötvös Loránd University of Budapest, it was examined, with the help of an empirical survey that was conducted in both countries, if women in both countries can be regarded as a group which is distal to learning, in how far women are still discriminated within the Hungarian and German society and in which way can education work against possible discrimination? Therefore the situation of women in the Hungarian and German society will be described and with the help of interviews, done with representatives of the respective employment centre, as well as the presentation of special educational opportunities for women, these questions will be answered. Further questions considered throughout this intercultural research project were: o Potentials of Senior Age (http://www.db-thueringen.de/servlets/DocumentServlet?id=9749) o How can adults learn foreign languages? (http://www.db-thueringen.de/servlets/DocumentServlet?id=9894) ***************************
