ABSTRACT
This chapter describes political reforms in Hungary since 1989. It discusses the economic factors underlying the reform process and gives an overview of the legislation on agricultural privatization and transformation. The ‘Hungarian compromise’ designed by Party Secretary Janos Kadar in the 1960s survived for about twenty-five years, but failed in the changing environment of the 1980s and 1990s. After the 1990 elections, the two largest parties, the Hungarian Democratic Forum (HDF) and the ADF, signed a political agreement reducing the number of laws that required a two-thirds majority in Parliament, so that a future government could more easily tackle important problems. A public opinion survey in June 1992 showed that a majority of the Hungarian people was disappointed with the political and economic changes. Because of the political strength of the political center, represented by the HDF, which had clearly won the 1990 elections, Hungarian agricultural reform was largely based on the HDF’s moderate reform strategy.
