In The Throes of Democracy

As part of the Fubright experience, and in order to ready us Fulbrighters for our prospective assignments throughout the country, grantees participate in a four day orientation, a kind of crash course in all things Hungarian. I've been getting oriented in Budapest for the past four days, and am now on the bus back to Eger.

Orientation was interesting, and I gained good insight about this complex, young democracy. I learned about its recently revamped system of higher ed; Hungary's damn long history (a millennium plus, though with less than a handful of trophy years); that discussion of the "Roma" (politically correct for Gypsies) causes people to shift uncomfortably in their seats. 


But the thing that has struck me most is Hungary's current discontent and sense of promise/foreboding, and how much it parallels American discontent and sense of promise/foreboding (or, I suppose, Hungarians might say ours parallels theirs). For instance, Hungarians are very unhappy with their government and economy, two terms essentially synonymous when the later sours. So, the fix, in American terms, during the last election, was for the Hungarians to throw the bums out. How might "bum" translate into Magyar (the true name for the Hungarian language)? Answer: Anyone unlucky enough to have been in office at the time. So, having hauled incumbents to the curb to be taken away with the trash (or, more likely, to be recycled), a new government assumed the bums' places -- with a two thirds majority! -- in what would be the equivalent of our presidency and congress. Quite a bit more than the Democrats' recent "shellacking," and probably more deserving of the noun. (Think Crocodile Dundee: "Aw, that's not a shellacking. This is a shellacking!")


Though I am clearly and outsider at this point, I have enough power of perception to see that the country is divided, with some taking a deep breath hoping that the new conservative Fidesz government will overcome the crippling economic policies of the ousted Hungarian Socialist party, and others taking a deep breath hoping that the nationalistic Fidesz government will not swing too far to the right and retard Hungary's hopes for rising status in the European Union. 


Of immediate concern is Hungary's constitution which, though amended several dozen times, is the same core constitution drafted during its days of communist rule. Fidesz has seized its super majority to chuck the current constitution and write a new one, and will be passing it within the next several months. Political supporters are glad to at last be free of the Soviet-era vestige; Political opponents and others wary of Fidesz' unassailable legislative power are concerned the government might constitutionalize a hard right doctrine.
More to come.
G'Day.