Hungarian Reform Research Articles

Stropkov – An Unknown Chapter of the Upper Hungarian Reformation

The history of the Reformation in the Upper Zemplin town of Stropkov has remained outside the interest of history and church history. Nevertheless, Stropkov was Protestant for several decades. The establishment of the Reformation in the town was made possible by the lordship of Peter and Gábor Perényi in the second third of the 16th century. The existence of a Reformed parish is evidenced by three mentions from the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The Protestant period in the history of Stropkov ended with a change of landlords when János Pethő of Gerse became the owner of the entire estate. Baron István Pethő invited Franciscans from Poland to the town, who re-Catholicized Stropkov in a short time. The town, along with the estate, thus became the first re-Catholicized area in the Zemplin region and one of the first in the whole of Upper Hungary. Keywords: Stropkov, Reformation, Reformed Church, re-Catholicization, Franciscans

What shapes populists’ economic policy impact? An analysis of financial market reform in Hungary and Poland

ABSTRACT The paper seeks to understand the factors that shape populist radical right parties’ economic policies. While there is a good understanding of how these parties’ core ideology of nativism and authoritarianism shapes social policies, we know less about economic policies. With few exceptions, the insights of this literature have also not travelled to East-Central Europe, despite the strength of the populist right in this region. Instead, authors writing on the region focus on the social coalitions forged by populist parties as an explanation for policies. These authors however do not focus on the role of populism in policymaking. Our paper therefore asks whether the ideological literature can travel to economic policies as well, and specifically to the cases of Hungary and Poland. Drawing on the evidence of financial market reforms under the Fidesz and PiS rule in Hungary and Poland, and a congruence analysis testing the predictive power of existing approaches, we show that a combination of ideological and material factors is needed to explain observed economic policies.

Pension reforms in Hungary: have they gone too far?

Abstract As a result of unfavorable demographic processes, the pension systems in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) EU countries face significant challenges, which has made the implementation of reforms inevitable in the last decade. Relying on economic theory, this paper analyses the effects of the Hungarian pension reforms in comparison with those of other CEE countries, and discusses the consequences from the point of view of social policy and the sustainability of the pension schemes. We explore the reasons why the reforms in Hungary ultimately did not improve sustainability but rather contributed to dismantling the social care system. Therefore, the Hungarian case provides useful lessons for other countries, and at the same time underlines the importance of automatic adjustment mechanisms. The study pays particular attention to the theoretical analysis of pension indexation because its accurate quantitative effects are far from being sufficiently clarified in the literature, although it is vital for a thoughtful evaluation of pension reforms.

Characteristic features of Reformation in Hungary and the Formation of the Unitarian (Anti-Trinitarian) Church in Transylvania in the Second Half of the 16th Century

This article examines the peculiarities of the Reformation process in the Hungarian territories, followed by the formation of a Unitarian (Anti-Trinitarian) church in Transylvania in the 16th century. The study aims to identify the specific features and periodization of this process in the said area. The first feature is the complex ethnic composition of the population, which led to political and religious opposition and the strengthening of state power by certain ethnic groups that adopted Protestant religious doctrines. The second feature is related to the complex military-political situation in Central Europe in the 16th century: the disintegration of the Kingdom of Hungary, the annexation of parts of the disintegrated kingdom by the Ottoman Empire, which led to several major Austro-Turkish wars and constant border skirmishes. This resulted in the emergence of various vassal formations and the use of interfaith conflict as a means to achieve success in military-political confrontations. The third feature, closely related to the previous ones, is the strengthening of magnate clans, which, in the context of weak government and a challenging international situation, became independent political forces significantly influencing the religious processes in the country. These characteristics of Reformation in the Hungarian territories led, in the second half of the 16th century, to a substantial expansion of Protestantism supporters and an increase in the number of Protestant denominations. In the small, frontier, vassal state of the Eastern Hungarian kingdom under the Ottoman Empire, the widest religious freedom in Europe was granted. A few years later, a Unitarian (Anti-Trinitarian) Christian church was established, receiving equal rights with all other religious denominations. It continues to exist in Hungary and Romania. This study will be of interest to the researchers of history of Reformation and religion in general.

The role of boards in Hungarian public interest foundation universities

ABSTRACT Between 2019 and 2022, 21 Hungarian public institutions were placed under the control of so-called public interest foundations (trust funds) instead of the state. As a result, the board of each foundation gained considerable power and authority over the institutions and thus paving the way for radical changes in the university management and internal governance. Although the governance reform is in line with international trends in many respects, we identified the unique characteristics of the Hungarian reform, such as the high proportion of politicians among members or their lifetime employment. Based on 38 interviews and document analysis, we examined the rationale behind the reform and the different interpretations of the role of boards. The results show that the perception of the role of boards depends on the level of trust that the board has in the institution and its management. Where boards treat universities as minors, a micro-managerial, supervisory role is more prevalent. Where, on the other hand, the university management is seen by the board as a more responsible, mature grown-up, a more empowering partnership role is possible.

The reform policy of Maria Theresa and Joseph II in the field of urban development in the Austrian monarchy and its influence on the cities of Galicia (second half of the 18th century)

The article analyzes the reform policy of Maria Theresa and Joseph II in the field of urban development in the Austrian monarchy and determines its influence on the cities of Galicia (second half of the 18th century)). It is noted that the reformist policies of Maria Theresa and Joseph II limited the power of large owners in Galicia, created conditions for raising the material and educational level of the local population. Imperial measures to limit city self-government were correlated with a decrease in the competence of land sejms - landtags. The new government was looking for a model of successful administration for the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. Therefore, it was decided that Galicia should not be governed according to the model of any old province, but should receive a new, more efficient administrative apparatus. Centralization reforms in Hungary and Bohemia encountered strong opposition from local political elites. Galicia was a new province and the reform strategy here had to be completely different. The goal was to dismantle all that was left of the Polish system of governance, and in its place to create a new, perfect administrative state apparatus. Anton Pergen, the first governor of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, wrote about this in his memorandum to Empress Maria Theresa. The plan was approved by the empress. She liked the idea of turning Galicia into a “model province” (Musterprovinz) for other territories of the Habsburg monarchy.It was established that the Austrian authorities considered the cities as potential industrial centers of the country (following the Prussian or British model). Apart from Vienna, cities such as Budapest, Trieste, Fiume and Prague were more or less industrial and commercial centers. Industrial revolution on the border of the 18th and 19th centuries. belatedly, but still reflected in the structure and growth of individual cities of the empire. In order to contribute to the rise of cities, it was necessary to modernize and introduce new technologies. For this purpose, under both Maria Theresa and Joseph II, tax benefits were introduced for several years for entrepreneurs who installed machines in their factories. There were programs to attract skilled workers from Germany and Italy. Tax breaks and exemptions from the army were introduced for colonists, and rules were introduced for entrepreneurs that encouraged the use of modern technologies in factories and factories. On the other hand, penalties were applied to those who did not want to obey the changes. For example, high fines were imposed in Moravia in 1754 and in Bohemia in 1756 for the lack of modern technologies in paper production. Enterprises that used machines for the technological process of production were completely exempt from paying taxes for several years.

Hypothetical Tax-Benefit Reforms in Hungary: Shifting from Tax Relief to Cash Transfers for Family Support

ABSTRACT This paper evaluates two hypothetical budget-neutral reforms that shift resources from family tax expenditures to family cash transfers. We evaluate these reforms using a structural labor supply model based on the microsimulation EUROMOD model and EU-SILC data. We find that both reforms have an inequality-decreasing impact. However, when looking at labor supply responses for different household types, we show that the reforms have a non-negligible impact, especially for females in couple households. Additionally, we show that females in the middle of the income distribution in particular reduce labor supply in response to the reforms.

Hungarian-Romanian transcultural relations during the Middle Ages and the reformation

AbstractIt was in the Latin-language historical literature of medieval and Renaissance Hungary that the noble ideology was first formulated which has determined the discourse on Hungarian national and literary consciousness up to the present day. These chronicles, however, contain a great deal of information not only about the Hungarians, but also about the peoples who lived alongside them. Thus, Romanians are also important figures in this Latin-language historical literature. In the first part of this study we will discuss the depiction of the Romanians in Anonymus' and Simon Kézai's Chronicles, the Illustrated Chronicle and Antonio Bonfini's monumental work. In the second part of the study I will describe the influence of the Hungarian Reformation literature of the 16th and 17th centuries on Romanian literature. From a Hungarian perspective, the Romanian Reformation is worth studying because it is a clear demonstration of Hungarian “cultural imperialism” in the 16th to 18th centuries, so much so that Hungarian culture has been unable to repeat cultural export on such a scale ever since. This means that between 1540 and 1750 there was no other language into which so many Hungarian-language ecclesiastical works (catechisms, psalms, hymns, postulates, agendas, piety works) were translated as Romanian. In other words, no other culture has been so powerfully influenced by a Hungarian impact as was Romanian culture during these two centuries.

Fornication and adultery in the city of Debrecen (1547–1625) compared with the morality of Geneva

To be sure, the more productive field of the international research on Protestantism is related to the subject of social history. In the case of the Calvin studies, for instance, readers will see, much has been written about the operation of the Genevan civil-church administration, consistorial discipline, sexual sins, and family-marital life. Their authors’ outstanding effort was to consult with the original manuscripts of the Genevan Archives. However, the early generations of Protestant preachers not only in Western, but in Central East Europe were trying to commit everything to renew the public morality of people, still the illumination of the Hungarian pastors’ views on the new spiritual and religious dimensions of family life, is still a neglected part of the research. Consequently, it would be interesting to scrutinize, for instance, the public morality related to the sexual crimes of local townsfolk of the city of Debrecen which apparently was the center of the Hungarian Reformation since 1562/63. Doing so, the present research deals with the operation of the law court, the number of cases, the crimes, and motives represented in the Registers of the Magistracy of Debrecen during the period of 1547–1625. Figures and statistics presented by the article point out how important was the practice of forgiveness in the religious life in Debrecen. It is taken for granted that the main results of the study permit to take a brief comparison of the sexual morality of the two Calvinist towns, namely: Debrecen and Geneva.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article is based on the field of systematic theology. The study offers an attempt to understand sexual sins/crimes in their 16th and 17th century theological, judicial, and historical context.

Populist Reforms in Hungary and Poland: Same Song, Different Melodies

Populism is gaining ground in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), and Hungary and Poland are the best examples of this trend. The Hungarian Orbán government and conservative Polish coalition led by Kaczyński (PiS), widely considered in the literature as populist, have been in power for some time now, which allows us not only to evaluate their labour law policies, but also the results. Though there are evident similarities between these two countries, such as political motivated layoffs in public employment or significant wage increases, the discrepancies are far more numerous. These differences result from each country’s specific socio-economic conditions and (almost) diametrically opposed political strategies with respect to employment matters. While Viktor Orbán believes in a workfare society, without social allowances and with flexibilized employment protection, in Poland PiS is pushing through a belated welfare revolution with expanded social benefits and employment rights. This article starts by describing populism as it has developed in Hungary and Poland in section 1, and the promises made by Orbán and Kaczyński before coming to power in section 2. Section 3 examines the main pillars of populist labour law policy, such as flexibilization, wages, collective rights, self-employment, social benefits and political motivated layoffs. Finally, we try to explain why and how these seemingly similar populist governments have adopted fundamentally different labour law reforms. labour law reforms, collective rights, flexibilization, Hungary, Poland

The Immanent Tensions of ‘Compensation’ of Loss of Life – A Multidimensional Model and Some Global Thoughts Based on the Recent Legislative Reform in Hungary

Abstract Immanent tensions of tort law vibrate apparently with greater amplitude regarding the so-called ‘loss of life’ claims of secondary victims (family members) for non-pecuniary damages. The loss of a loved one cannot be expressed in terms of money, yet tort law attempts to do so. Deterrence and punishment are basically alien to civil liability (at least in the civil law tradition), but there is an element of punishment involved. It is impossible to serve two masters; nevertheless, both predictability of law and individual justice are sought at the same time. There is a constant fear of unfounded claims, yet there is also a tendency to release the surviving family member(s) from the burden of proving feelings that are difficult to quantify (if possible at all). In this paper, a multi-dimensional model is created for a better understanding, based on those tensions and the possible combinations of solutions provided by the legal systems to them. While some contrasts are highlighted (eg first, having legislative acts according to which particular relatives are entitled to compensation and in what particular amount; or on the contrary, leaving matters to the discretion of the trial judge; and second, whether the degree of relation matters and/or emotional proximity is crucial), reference is also made to the still unanswered basic questions, such as what actually is the loss to be compensated: the grief and sorrow felt in itself, the aggravation of the claimant’s own life (among others, loss of guidance, care and companionship), the loss to the integrity of the family as a value, or finding the energy to deal with the loss and therefore not investing in other constructive purposes or life goals? The analysis of the author’s own legal system, ie of the Hungarian approach, recently rich in variety, and some additional comparative remarks provide the first test of the model and allow some general conclusions.

Political trends and groups in Csanád county in the 1840s

In the context of the study of political trends and groups in the Hungarian reform era, it is necessary examining the political life in the counties. In the 1840s, the nobility in Csanád county became increasingly divided into parties. In my study, I will examine conflicts between the nobles of Csanád and how the formation of the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party affected the political situation in Csanád county. In the context of the Diets, the election of deputies and the drafting of instructions also caused exciting clashes between the nobles, which greatly shades the picture of political trends.

The effect of decreased general training on skills and dropout - Evidence from a vocational school reform in Hungary

ABSTRACT The paper studies a unique education reform that decreased the length of secondary-level vocational education from 4 to 3 years, reducing the time spent on general subjects while keeping the time spent on vocational training. We use a difference-in-difference strategy by comparing reformed schools with early adopters before and after the reform. We find that students’ general skills have dropped considerably, but the probability of dropout has decreased, and the probability of getting a secondary qualification has increased. These results suggest that such a reform will have mixed labour market consequences, at least in the short run.

An illiberal welfare state emerging? Welfare efforts and trajectories under democratic backsliding in Hungary and Turkey

Mainstream western-centric welfare state research has mostly confined itself to studying social policy in consolidated democracies and tends to assume a synergy between democracy and the welfare state. This article shifts the focus to welfare states in countries with declining democratic institutions and rising right-wing populist rule to explore a complex relationship between (de)democratization and welfare state reforms. We conduct a comparative case study of two extreme cases of democratic decline, Turkey and Hungary. We employ a sequential mixed method approach. First, we assess welfare efforts in the two countries to understand which policy areas were prioritized and whether autocratizing governments retrenched or expanded their welfare states. In the second stage, we explore the trajectory of welfare reforms in Hungary and Turkey, focusing on three analytically distinguishable dimensions of social policy change: policy content, policy procedures (including timing, parliamentary procedures, veto players); and the discourses accompanying reforms. We find that democratic decline facilitates rapid welfare state change but it does not necessarily mean retrenchment. Instead we observe ambivalent processes of welfare state restructuring. Common themes emerging in both countries are the rise of flagship programmes that ensure electoral support, a transition towards top-down decision-making and the salient role of discourse in welfare governance. Overall, similarities are stronger in procedures and discourse than in the direction of reforms. Differences in spending levels and policy content do not suggest that the two cases constitute a coherent illiberal welfare state regime. Instead, we see the emergence of authoritarian features that modify their original welfare models.

ECONOMIC REFORMS IN HUNGARY (LATE 1950s – 1960s.)

The article is devoted to the characteristics of economic reforms in the Hungarian People's Republic carried out in the late 1950s-1960s by representatives of the reformist wing of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (HSWP) under the leadership of J. Kadar. It is noted, in particular, that the ultimate success of the ruling communist regime was the economic reform, the main provisions of which came into effect on January 1, 1968, having received the name "a New economic mechanism." The reform anticipated the transition from a centralized directive-planning system to an indicative one, i.e., the elements of market-based relations were introduced along with the existing socialist planned economy. As the study pointed out, liberal transformations in Hungary resulted from J. Kadar's policy of consolidation and social harmony after the revolutionary events of 1956, and their goal was primarily to increase the population's welfare. Both the best Hungarian economists and political figures took an active part in developing essential reforms under the chairmanship of the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party Rezső Nyers, Prime Minister Jenő Fock, Vice Prime Minister Lajos Fehér. It is emphasized that the economic reforms in the Hungarian People's Republic brought the following changes: mandatory planning tasks were canceled, material incentives appeared, pricing practices changed, liberalization of agriculture took place, and small-scale production with the simultaneous functioning of large cooperative farms originated. Based on the developed scientific material, it was concluded that the most significant successes were in agriculture. However, after the events in Czechoslovakia in 1968, the liberal changes in Hungary, which destroyed the directive management system, caused dissatisfaction among the communist leaders of the countries of the socialist camp and in the Kremlin. There were also many opponents of reforms in the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party and in the party-state apparatus, which ultimately led to the collapse of the New economic mechanism in 1972–1973. Based on the analysis of specialized domestic and foreign publications, the author points out that the amount of scientific literature on the studied issues in modern Ukrainian historical science is insufficient.

On the Way to Limited Competitiveness: Political Consequences of the 2011 Electoral Reform in Hungary

AbstractThis article tests the effects of a new electoral system in Hungary that was introduced by the governing FIDESZ party in 2011. We are especially concerned with the shape of single‐member district (SMD) level electoral competition following a significant transformation that tends to be viewed as serving FIDESZ's goal of preserving its constitutional majority. The results show not only transformation of Hungarian electoral politics between 2010 and 2018 elections but also the fact that the return of bipolarization is far from reality in Hungarian electoral politics. On one hand, the reform resulted in an increased number of districts with clear dominance of the two strongest parties nationally, but on the other hand, this trend was connected to asymmetrical bipartism, with clear advantage of the FIDESZ. Furthermore, there was a persistently high number of SMDs where the competition took place between the FIDESZ and one of the third‐place parties.

The effect of involuntary retirement on healthcare use.

We analyze the causal effect of involuntary retirement on detailed indicators of healthcare use and mortality. We leverage a pension reform in Hungary which forced public sector workers above the statutory retirement age to full time retirement. Using rich administrative data, we find that on the 3-year horizon, involuntary retirement decreases the number of primary care doctor visits, the use of systemic antiinfectives and respiratory drugs, and the non-zero spending on antiinfectives, the drugs of the alimentary tract and metabolism and of the cardiovascular system. The impact on the latter two drug categories is driven by the drop in income due to involuntary retirement. We conclude that there is little evidence for health deteriorating effects of involuntary retirement and discuss the possible mechanisms behind our results.

Visual Representation of the Intellectuals and Philosophers in the Hungarian Reform Era (1825–1848)

In the modern cultural industry, visual representation acquired a special role. In East-Central Europe, portraits made in this crucial epoch created a solid visual canon of the national classics. Another sign of this cultural transformation is the new structure of the public realms, because of the functional transformation of the usage of urban places. In the case of the topic of this paper, the Hungarian Reform Era (1825–1848) was this crucial epoch. In the present paper, an overview of the appearance of the portraits of the known intellectuals will be offered. In the non-censored press of the revolutionary period, the genre of caricature appeared as a counterpart of these ‘star-portraits’, as it will be shown in the next section. In the last section, a tension of these highly individualised portraits will be analysed both in the idealistic form of ‘star-portraits’ and the caricatures, and the appearance of the same figures within the visual representation of the revolutionary mass-scenes. The most emblematic location from this point of view is the place around the Hungarian National Museum. In the history of the European philosophy, this transformation of the visual representation and the usage of public realms is connected with the subsequent waves of the common sense philosophy from its Scottish roots through the philosophy to its special role in the Hungarian intellectual life.

Is present pharmacy education adapted to needs? Survey results from young practitioner views regarding pharmacy education outcome towards a national reform in Hungary

BackgroundThe pharmacist career is constantly adapting to societal and health care needs. The past decade has seen a growing demand for curricular development to align graduation outcome with workforce competencies. ObjectiveThis study aims to identify expectations for both didactic and experiential components of a new curriculum based on young pharmacist practitioner views. MethodsAn online survey questionnaire was used in 2019–2020 to evaluate the pharmacy curriculum to detect indicators or key areas which require comprehensive reform. ResultsThe predominant majority of the 205 study participants recommended reduction in credit hours for Natural Sciences (78.54%) and a similar increase in the Theoretical and Practical Expertise Module (77.9%). Pharmaceutical care, clinical therapeutics and clinical pharmacy competencies should also be more highlighted in the program. Findings indicate the current training does not prepare for problem-solving and daily workplace challenges (72.7%) or for extended pharmacist skills and competencies (71.71%). Results show inconsistency in practical training experience, as all respondents participated in practical training for drug manufacturing and analysis but 61.0% reported no hands-on skills training in a hospital-clinical simulation setting. Indications for practitioner involvement into the natural sciences and biomedical subjects (86.3%) confirm the obvious need for more practice-oriented education. ConclusionsEducational reforms seem to be inevitable to achieve measurable improvement in professional practice and skills competency. The country specific demand for a needs-based pharmacy education reflects global trends but may also provide useful insights for individual transitions to transform education through practice and improve practice through education.

Jerome’s Reception in an Early Eighteenth-Century Hungarian Historical Work

Works concerning the history of the Hungarian Reform had been almost absent until the second half of the seventeenth century. The relatively peaceful process of the Hungarian Reform, the lack of armed conflicts, and the tragic memory of the battle of Mohács made the appearance of self-justifying religious narratives in Hungarian historiography seem unnecessary. On the other hand, the changes caused by the Tridentine Catholic renewal movement and the deterioration of the religious and political condition of the Protestant confession culminated in punishing actions. This brought the polemical and self-justifying narratives to the forefront in both literature and historiography. First signs of interest regarding the history of Protestantism appeared on the Catholic side, but they emerged under the pressure of the circumstances. On the other hand, a growing foreign interest gradually appeared on the Protestant side, making way to historiographical works. An example of such an opus is the Historia Ecclesiae Reformatae in Hungaria et Transilvania (1706) by Pál Debreceni Ember. The author presents the history of the Reformed Church in Hungary. He also tries to present the origins of Hungarian Christianity, projecting it onto the Apostolic Period. Finally, he turns to the early Christian writers such as Jerome to prove his theory. The paper aims to present this chapter in Jerome’s reception and its religious background.