ABSTRACT
The legacy of Hungarian state socialism-as compared to that of Czechoslovakia and Poland-can be characterized by two distinct features. First, the dissolution of state socialism was preceded by a destabilization process-within the structure of power itself-that lasted almost a decade. The political transition was initiated partly by groups who hoped to retain their positions in the new political regime, or at least to convert their political power into economic power. Second, from the beginning of the 1980s almost 70 per cent of the citizenry took part in the illegal second economy, thereby gradually loosening their dependence on the party-state and opening up to elements of an alternative political culture.
