ABSTRACT
The political, social, and economic transformation processes in Hungary are unfinished. One of the striking phenomena of Hungary's post-Communist development is the delay of socioeconomic and cultural change. Constitutional change in Hungary was heralded on October 23, 1989, by the proclamation of the republic instead of the "People's Republic." The distribution and separation of powers are strongly rooted in the institutions of the Hungarian Republic. The initial idea put forward and supported by the reform Communists was a strong president within a presidential system. Parliamentary control over the government was reduced by an agreement between the biggest liberal and national-conservative parties immediately after the first free elections. The creation of the new constitutional system produced a new constitutional institution which had no predecessor in Hungarian constitutional history and was based on Western democratic models — the Constitutional Court. In contrast to the Communist model of "political justice," the new constitutional norms require the introduction of an independent judiciary.
