Publication Type
Book Chapter
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
1-2001
Abstract
The electoral system adopted by Hungary in 1989 represents a monument to the potential for institutional design through bargaining to produce complex yet stable institutions. The key compromise reached during this bargaining process was the decision to use a mixed-member system, electing a roughly even number of representatives from both majoritarian single-seat districts (SSDs) and from multi-seat, list proportional representation (PR) districts. This decision established Eastern Europe's first mixed-member electoral system, a format that was to become common in post-communist electoral systems. In its ten-year existence, Hungary's mixed-member system has operated in three elections and seen three different governments come to power. In this chapter I evaluate the consequences of the institutional choice of the mixed-member system, examining its role in Hungary's contemporary political system, discussing its perception by both elites and voters, and finally pointing to its long-term prospects.
Discipline
Eastern European Studies | Political Science
Research Areas
Political Science
Publication
Mixed-member electoral systems: The best of both worlds
Editor
M. Shugart, & M. Wattenberg
First Page
477
Last Page
493
ISBN
9780199257683
Publisher
Oxford University Press
City or Country
Oxford
Citation
BENOIT, Kenneth. (2001). Evaluating Hungary's mixed-member electoral system. In Mixed-member electoral systems: The best of both worlds (pp. 477-493). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/4050
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.