From the 'Rule of Law Revolution' to The Constitutional Counter-Revolution in Hungary

Abstract

After more than 20 years, and after the enactment of the new Hungarian Constitution on April 18, 2011, the paper tries to look at the core of the democratisation process and evaluate the role that the constitution and the constitution-making processes played in Hungary. To achieve this aim the paper discusses A) the characteristics of the Hungarian transition to democracy B) the constitution as the instrument of system change C) the constitutional counter-revolution in 2010-2011, and D) the status of consolidation after twenty years of transition.

Keywords: Rule of law, transition, fundamental rights, constitution, constitution-making, democracy, political community, privacy