Changing movements, evolving parties: the party-oriented structure of the Hungarian radical right and alternative movement

Abstract

Two parties gained seats in the Hungarian parliament for the first time in the general elections of 2010. Both of these parties had a strong movement background, which seemed to be more obvious in the case of the radical right Jobbik, but the green LMP party also had strong ties to the Hungarian alternative movement. In this article I analyze the structural changes of the movements, which resulted in the dominance of the party-oriented structure. First, I look at the transformation of these movements from the democratic transition in 1989 until the 2010 elections. In the second part of the article I analyze the national context structure, the external environment of the movements. I conclude that in case of the green-alternative movement the new electoral opportunities, the shortcomings of political consultation and the lack of strong allies favored the party-oriented structure. For the radical right movement the expanded access to the party system, the ineffective policy implementation capacity of the state and the repression by the authorities pushed the movement’s structure to the party-oriented model.