ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to give general and contextual explanations for the examined constitutional jurisprudence at two different levels. First, the country studies seek to highlight the reasons for the change or continuity of constitutional adjudication. Second, the comparative part of the book aims to identify general European trends and characteristics. The book focuses on 'new challenges' and 'pressures' as social phenomena which can potentially affect constitutional adjudication in the various European countries. The relevant challenges are those that have brought about serious social, political and/or economic/financial difficulties in recent years and that have had constitutional implications. It reports on the results of an international research project that was financed and assisted by the National University of Public Service and the Institute for Legal Studies at the Center for Social Sciences of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences to which the authors are also grateful.
