ABSTRACT
Before the political changes of 1989 there were a number of environmental pressure groups in Hungary that were committed to the introduction of ‘greener’ policies. Although some of the key individuals from the ‘green’ movement went on to become active in mainstream political parties after 1989, this concern with the environment was not reflected in the sorts of policies introduced in the post-1989 era, nor in the party composition of the first democratically elected parliament. Indeed, the first parliament failed to introduce any effective environmental protection policies despite an initial commitment to do so. In this study I explore some of the reasons why environmental issues moved towards the periphery of the new political agenda given their apparent importance prior to 1989. I argue that while single-issue pressure groups were one of the few ‘safe’ avenues for the expression of political dissent in the Kádár period, once people were able to participate in a broad spectrum of political activity, green issues came to assume a less significant role. Furthermore, I argue that a lack of political consensus among ‘green’ politicians and the existence of powerful economic constraints has led to a situation in which environmental politics are unlikely to thrive in the foreseeable future.
