ABSTRACT
One way of describing the sharp break between the new political leadership of Hungary and its forerunners is to note that of the 386 members of the National Assembly elected in two ballots in March and April 1990, only twenty-one had ever served in a previous parliament: over 95 percent of the membership is new. Sixteen of the new MPs served in the immediately preceding assembly, five had actually served in parliament in the late 1940s, and one had served in both. The selection of political leaders through competitive elections has replaced the communist system of one-party recruitment in all of Central Europe. Some of the political parties competing in these elections are new formations. While Hungary shared with Poland and Czechoslovakia a peaceful transition from one-party to multi-party rule in 1989 and 1990, bringing new elites to power in all three countries, the manner of the transition was distinct in each, even if they influenced each other.
