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7 - Democratic Constitutional Replacements and Majoritarian Politics

The Cases of Poland (1993–1997) and Hungary (2010–2011)

from Part II - Case Studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 August 2020

By
Gabriel L. Negretto  and
Solongo Wandan
Edited by
Gabriel L. Negretto
Gabriel L. Negretto
Affiliation:
Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
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Summary

In both Poland and Hungary new constitutions were adopted after elections that provided a new government with the formal capacity to control the process by excluding opposition interests. However, whereas in Poland the constitution was in the end the result of a compromise among a plurality of political interests, in Hungary the government unilaterally imposed the constitution with negative consequences for the future of democracy in the country. In this chapter, we argue that a more consensual constitution-making process was possible in Poland because opposition forces, in spite of their meager results in terms of parliamentary representation, were able to exert influence over the process through extra-institutional and institutional means. In contrast to Hungary, where opposition groups were extremely weak or discredited, in Poland extra-parliamentary opposition maintained significant support among voters and functioned as an effective political constraint on dominant parties. Thanks to their strength outside formal political institutions, opposition forces in Poland were able to induce incumbents to make changes in the constitution-making procedures that allowed them to have some clout in the drafting of the constitution.

Keywords

New constitutionsdemocracy ,majoritarian politicselectionsPolandHungary
Type
Chapter
Information
Redrafting Constitutions in Democratic Regimes
Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives
 , pp. 155 - 174
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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