'., " eAL t u!.:ry, ;oi i a'ii i' irl eil;:'-""$+:p.

f
f llvan votgYesl

-^.^..Y'::
L /l!a /dt+uttt'. r .)t o7
in Hungary
PoliticalCultureand PotiticalSocialization t
;:tffi il'ii!:"*'liillll"-ii""ff;:x"""il'il:::::i::fl afterthe SystemChange
I
g*tfr*n,*k'ffi*f**$*ffi
Tenvears.inthe lile ol a country,society'or a nationmightbe coniidered
a sh;rt interval.Too shortlor the socialsciencsto drawtimelessconclu-
sionsaboulth€ movemenlol societyand culture,and ospecially
iecliikgsocialization, the iormation and dovglopment of culture
in a sub-
Howsver'
I
i

j***,::"-*
i:'i""'"",:1ffi
l;;fl
as the year 1990broughtabouttho peacefulfall oi the socialistregimein
Hunqary,even lhis shortper;odenablesus to makea fgw moroor less
imoo;a;l oeneralizat;ons
ine preient study is a pan
wilha relalivesalety.
ol an experiment. lts subjeclsgemssimple:it

-"{,;"l'*,W*,
jt
aims asceriaining the charact€risticfeatures of the changesthat atfect-
ed the procoss ol political socialization'its agencies, its modiumand.ils
messaoosince the transition, and as a r€sultof these, tho charactedstics

#,-l*m:*$n"'-wffi
of the;ewly lormed political cullure Certainly,this sludy can do no moro
lhan just raising ths problems and making soms generalizations, slncolnls
is a lopic \xhichwould fill severalbooks.'

Transitlonin Hungary

Tenvearsafterits lall,socialismhas almostdisappeared lromlho livesol

mn$*$n**r**t*rwnn rhe;eople. lf lhey still mentionthe regimethat dsterminedlheir livesfor

neaitvtivedecades,theytalkaboutit as the'cursed'one'Whatthesystem
was likein realityand howit atfectedpeople,seemsirelevant;theirmem-
oriesare muchliss negativethanonecouldhave
atepe od of thetransitionNaturally,
gxpgctedin the immedi-
memoryhasalwaysbeenags'depen_
danito a certainextent,iust tikethe processol politicalsocialization...
the 'products'gf the polilical

;*'*xn"nsll$*fi*ffix.*ry*
The teaturesot the transitiondotermined
socialization and cullule'The systemchang€resulledin a mor€open
moredemocratic society,govenmentand economylt wasa procossour
inowhichlhe countryslowlydisposedof tho loaturesof lhe one'party'sys-
teir, whilelhe party'leadersnip votedsociaiismand itselfoul of powar'or
diJ nothinoto prevenril The Hungariao lransition,comparedto a similar
orocessin'anvothercountry'torecastsin its continuousness and non'vio'

*p#*q***N**,'Ninffi characterol the futurepolitical

i""i""iri"lni, ir"o"tentaily consensual
lt is worthmenlroninghowever'thatlor many people th€ preler-
structur€.

*ffi :,"3:[f":';"."'JHJil
3;:1"il1:niil and
ro.he
sociai
and 1 Tn6 6os and $e 7os werBln€ god€. ags ol 3lrdl€son t'tl6subjoclol
pol ca' cuhutoi
il1s' unlonunarslvlh€ amencanpolr[calfr6nc€ drdnol paYsp€dalanenrcnlo m6
Edope
p@6s3 or
ool icdlsoc;izaliona.d lho o'poilca
ourporl cJhur€in Easl'sm
i- i iii it'"F !', s".iii orrn;YoulsDemocraci€s:rh€ Exp€n-
Europdn
csnrrar
Janos Sinan "" (1993)
^
ence B-uoaD€sr Pap€6 on Do_olralc Tralsitior' 68
enceol this consensual structuremeantlhat the ighl for vengeance and Thisis thecasew(n lhectlclesol lrlenos as wclr'I rrvrrEwJvu'd,' 'u,',IJ,
revenge,or for a Violentteminalionthe nelworksof the nomenclature had insteadof slrengthening thom,Gtherlunclionedto the €lfectgl ensrvating
beonrejectedby a commonconsentbelweenthe societyand the govern- them.Lifelongtriendships oftenrell apartalongthe new dividinglinesof
ing elite.J6zsefAntalls lamousstatement: " Youshouldhavebeenkind po||lics,and theywerenot restoredbeforelong.In manycasoshowever,
enoughand madea revolulion"expressesthe dilemmaperfectly:up lo thecommitment to newpoliticalvaluesmanagedto di$olve the boundsof
1998,il was this searchfor consenlthat characlerized lhe (transitional) tdendships lor good.Thorelore,it is not by accidentthatcirclesof triends'
yearsol the kansiiion. essentialas theyaro as agenciesof pdmarysociallzation, wereunableto
Consequenlly, the characterislics of lhe politicalsocializationhavebeen devolopto performthe newlyimportanitaskol socialization, neithercould
determined by the charactefistics As we havepointedoul
of the transilion. ofier a 'norm' that would have been particularlyatlractjv€for the young.
in formersludies,politicalsocializalion may be revolutionary3 or continu- This is perhapswhy new agentsof socializalion wereableto emergeso
ous.Flevolutionary polilicalsocialization usuallymeansre'socialization- lt rapidlytowardsthe end of tho 90s in Hungary:theseweresemi-inlormal
is a processlhal lakeselfectfrom adullto adult,it is basedon beliefand circlesbasedon acquaintance or commongphereol inlerest,the netwoll.s'
commilment, or fearsthat are eiiher real or imagined,and ii inlluences beingeitherof economic(Amway,TuppoMare,KODEX)or social(Uons,
behaviorratherlhanthe actualwayof value-formaiion. Regarding Hungaa Rotary.elc.)nature.
ianhistory,processes ol lhis kindwerelypicalof the periodsbetween1949 Secondaryagencieslike partiosor schoolswere in tho processol
and 1955,or 1957and 1961,whenexhibiting ones failhin aclionwas rearrangement as well.The outwardmanifestation ol the chang€of their
muchmoreimporlanilhan actuallyacceptingand internalizing the values valueshasdonea lot to lhe ellectof conlusing thos€to bs socialized. The
and principles of this'lailh'. Comparedto the practiceof theseyears,tran- lransformation of somestateschoolsintochurchschools,and the conse-
sitionln Hungaryimmediately and1othelargestpossibleexlenlaulhodzed q!€nt radicalshiftof theirvalue-systems, oasimilarly,the nswde_socialized
the NGOS 1odeclare theirvalues relativelyireely,buttherewasno dernand nationalcurriculum, or any of ils variants;thesgweroall factorsthat con_
lowards the whole society lo lorciblydemonslrate the 'producls'of lhe re- lributedto lhe unsuccessluladaptationof the s€condaryprocessesof
socializalion. socialization,Amongihe reasonswe shouldc€dainlymentionthelact that
all gove.nments aft;r 1990(thatis, in 1990,1994,and 1998)endeavored
Agenciesof socializationduring the transition to enhancethe secondaryadoptionof theirvalu€s.lt is onlytowardsthe
endof the millenium thata mediumsuitablefor conscious socializingactiv-
betweenre-socialization ity beginsto evolve.However,it is onlyihe FIDESZ that has so far be€n
Literaturediscussingsocialization dislinguishes
process of continuous As is pointedout,ono o{ the
socializaiion. it su@e;stulwithits socializing activitiesthrough its schools and 6lite train-
andthe
fundamental differences is that both processes relyon ditferentagencies ing
andorganizations. Primaryagenciesnormallysupportcontinuous, {ace-to-
lace, personal socialization ({amily, friends,religion),
while revolulionary Changesof the medla
socialization leanson secondary,inferioragencies.As it is goingto b0
expounded below,the roleof thelamilyin the processot Hunqarian social_ "TheMediais the message", saysthe late slogan,yet its neaningin the
izationchangedand developed slowly. EasternEurcpean post-communist sociotiesis quitedifl€rentfromwhatit
It has not reallybecomemorecohesive,whichis naturally!nderstand- is in the societiesof Europeaild Amorica W€ cannotprovid€a pragmatic
historyol the matterin the presentstudy'however, a felvlundamenlalfactg
ableil we considerthefaclthatthelamily,as thebasicsocialunit,hasbeen
moreand morelettto ils owndevicesandhaslhus becomeunsteadyin its shoulddelinitelybe laiddown
searchfor newvalues.In addilion,religionin Hungaryhasneveracquired a whol6lot of
a positionthat il occupiesin Poland:lhe churchesandlheir leadingclergy 1.Onlho one hand,mediaIn lhe pluralsoci€ties dislributes
oolitical.economic, social, etc. values On the oth€r hand, beside broad_
havenever,neitherin the beginning norlater,beenableto extendtheirlun_ jumbl€, culturo
aimless media otten creates
damentalvalues io the whole nation and makepeoplebelievein lhem5 castinoenormous amount ol
andd valuesitself,throughits existence'and throughthe sg["pufpos€'
nessol the messagestransmilted. Pluralvaluesare ensurodbothby the
Sociaizalionin Hlngary,Paperpresenled
Polltical
3, L VOlgyes: ollhe
at lheAnnuallMeeling pressure ol the free market competition; and by tho powedul
Amorican Pollti€lsciencoAssoclation in 1972,47 economic
disson€nce
4, On th6lopicol cognilive s€o:l. Feslinger, Dissonance,
AThgoryo, Cognilivo aclivityon ihe sidsof the 'own€r6'ot thesevalues,the ultimaratiool which
Stanlo.d.CA,SlanlordUniversilyPress,1957 persuaAing
is,nair-rratty, tho publicof the rightness of thes€values'Politics
5, Foran earlvoiclur€oi the Polishexanplasee:a. Piasecki,
Zagadneniolslone,warsaw, andother vaiues become producls, likewashing powder lor instancg'and
P ax . 1954
their'selling
willbe lhe samekindof marketing
as is lhe introduction
ol a tainvalueshas not rea y appearedyet, neitherin the mediaethicof 'The
newcommercial product_ houseis on firel,-society,
nor in a significantpan of activitiesof oolitical
actors,
2. l\rediain the post-communistcountries,duringthe socialistregime,
lsed to be the lransminerof prescbed,encodedand one_way messa-ges., Messagestrom the bo le
Thispracltcebasicallyfellaparlduringa4daflerthetransilion.andcar;iers
or prurarvaruesappearedwithdifieringregularity,
activ,tyano skength. In the nexl sectionof our studywe shouldanswerlwo questionswhich.
howeverditferent,still fit each olher:(1) Who, or whichagencieswere
lhosethat triedto socialise,people,,
_ 3. Duringthe yearsof the politicaltransitjonandatteMards,lhe'leading wer€enforcedwithsocialising
and whichwereth€ messagesthat
ligures'or 'stars'ol the mediabecameconsiderably confusedas to the; aims,in the lastyearsofihe,cursediby th€
role in that process.Firstly,they considered themsetves partyleadership. {2) Whatis happening todaywiththe processof influenc-
the heroesand
fronl-linesoldiersof the lransilion.This was true in somecases.In other ingsociety?Certainly, the formulation of thessquestionsis provocalive in
instancesit appearedcomical,especiallyif assertedby iormerkeenand ilsell:lhere is a well-perceptible ditterencobewe€n the passiv€,people,
industriously servingSaulsof the politicalapparalus, who all of a sudden and the active'society'.Soveralbookscouldb€ wdttenon this subiectas
tumed into fighiingPaulsof democracy.Secondly,manyof the rnedia well;for the sakeot shortnesswe onlyr€peatthatin the presentst;dy we
stars,accordingto theirownsocialized values,did nol manaqeof wantlo regardas the basisof the socialistregimethat it treatedpeoplelik6tools;
atlarnlhose tec-niqueslhat a/e the virtJe ol obiectiveo; fact-finding tho fact lhat the regimeexercisedgood or bad powerover p€ople,ag
reporlersin societieswheredemocracyis well,established. Furthermore. opposodto democraticsyslems, whero society usualjy appearsas
the ownersand leadingfiguresol lhe new mediawereunablethemselves supremein makingdecisions. Yolii js obviousthatdiffer€ncas appeara lot
to defineprecisely thevaluesthattheyconsidered important. Nevertheloss, moreshalplyin lhis calculated, categorical formulation.Th€ realityis more
theywereobliged- navigarenecessere esll - lo lix the boundarjes subtle;the evaluationof the socialisingactivityp marilydopendson the
ol th6ir
commilmenltowardsthe governmentor the opposilionwhich,though relationship betweenthe systemandlhe medium,
almostinvisible,wereconstanUy changing.Theiraerialswhichgot llexible A lew explanations shouldbe addedto th6 schemebelow.Firstof all, it
duringthe yearsof socialism, canquickly'receive is thedomesticmediumot socialisalion, th€ relationshipbetweentheagen-
the signalscomingfrom
the government, and are ableto preciseiydeterminehowfar ihey can go. ciesandthe internalmessagesthatlhe schemeis supposedto reveal.We
l\,loreover, due lo this process,theirothicalvaluesreslon iho basisof re! arelullyawarethal th€ external,intornational surrdundings weracrucialin
alivism.Thus,lhe exlentof how far one can go will not be determined the last years ol tho 'cursed'.I\ror€over, w€ rgaliselhat th€ same sur-
by
'untilil is ethical',but by'how muchand whatit is worthfor somothinq roundings had dilferentetfectson the country'slile in 1999fromwhatthey
or
someone'. Thepresumedpressureol subsislence or the prospecls usedto b€ towardthe €nd ol the 80s, largelyresuttjngfrom our pr€sent
of m;k-
ing a fortuneplungedlhe Easlem-European media-operatoas NATo-membership or our luturejoiningthe EU. How€ver, the influenceof
- or theylel
themselves 1obe plunged- inloethicalsituations fromwhichonlya tewol ths externalsu(oundingswasoxtremelylmportant alsoIn theyEarsimme-
themcouldcomeouI as winners. diatolyprecedingthe transition.One of the fundamentalroasonsof the
4. Finally,the wholesocietygotconfusedaboutthe positivehierarchy regime'sfall was tho socialisteconomicpolicywhlch;'whil€alreadycol-
ol
valuesas wellas aboutthe positiveandtimelessvalues.Wasil socialsen- lapsinganderodingwasmofeandmor€comp€lledto cdslslreatment. This
sibility?Truth?Welfare?N,,larkel? resultedin the backlogol the wholosocialistregimg/economy in lh6 area.
Job?Whilein the 'cursed,regimeone
Parallelto this,lh6 Sovietempireandthosyslemol powerandgovolnancg
wastoldor made- lhroLrgh one s socialisedhierarchy of values,10 accept,
consciously or unconsciously, the officjallysettledprelerences fellapart,includingtho fundamonlal erosionof Gorbachev's era;the party
of values,
thenewfreedomlorcedthe morethoughtlul leadership doesnol dareor wantto involvethe armedforc€s,or is unablo
citjzensto makea choice.The
widerangeof the adoplablevalues- fromnationalism lo do so, in orderto stabilisethe collapsing regime.
of the exireme ght,
lo the standardsof the cosmopolilan 'captlalism, had a twofoldeffecl: Cla fyingthe specialposition of theaccepted'socialisersl transmltters,is
partjcularly importantin orderto understand the scheniQ belo'lv,'ldo not
besidetrighleningpeopleit also lreed the processof theirmakingvalue
judgements,and showedhow unlimitedtheir space for action is. The wishto deal herewith the historicat and specialrole of the intelligentsia-
assumptiOn ol civilresponsibility
lhroughconsciousrepresentalion tromJulienBendalo GyorgyKonradand lvanSzel6nyi,- thishasalready
oJcer-
7 S66 J. E€nda,Ls Trahlsond€s Cterc,Pa s, tvtonlard,1$a, or Koo6d s and Sz€6ny|s
6- Seelheessonlial
sludyby E S'irkdzy:Politkaikullra - polirikakomnrun
kdcio,Budapesl, sludi€s on intelljg€ntsla,or the excepuonaltyvatuabtestldios ot lGnidd h 0jJ6sz0t€!6€
1998.Ed.ErasmlsOsirls melanl6ieja, Budapost, Patria,1991 ! .. t:
beendoneby otherauthors.Yel,lt is importanlin respectof our topiclo
pointout lhai alongwithlhe weakening o{ lhe partys strengthin the erod- Table1. Agenciesandtrartsmitters
ing 'cursed regime,externalfactorsare more and more wideninglhe of messagos
everyday battlefield ot polilics,andas a result,intelligenlsia gainsmoreand
more power. Sincethe timeol the Enlightenment, butespecially duringthe cuRsEo NOW
socialistregime,intelligentsia wasmadeto believethatshehada privilege
to power,and duo to her conscience and her specialprivileges, a deler-
miningrole in lhe formaUon ot social processes, thoughmakingno direct
decisions. The intelligentsia was madeto believo-she acluallywanled1o
believe,and so she did- thal she represented aclualpower,eitheras a idsology
mediumthal transmitted the apologyof power, or as a factorloosening the r6ligion
confinesof power.ln the vacuumwherelhe parlyleadership erodedand
becameisolaled,the traditional politicalinstitulions , lhe massage- makers
gaveup declaringlormerideological messagesunbelievably switlly,letting MESSAGES
thusthe intelligentsia determine the 'message' almoslwithoutany control. domocratic
c€nlralism,
inronationa
ism d€loliliciz€d passivlty
Andsinceil is the intelligentsia who can besl€xploitthe mediafor lorma-
lion andtransmission of messages, she gelsintoa slateof con{usion con-
cerningher role.Thisis howlhe Americanized "Themediais lhe message"
turnsinlo"Weare the message", proclaimed as realityby the inlelligentsia
herself.
However,as the transiliondrew lo a close,lhe self-proclaimed impor-
tanceof the intelligentsia began lo devaluate. New aclors and interesi
qroupsappearandconsiderlhemselves more'trustworthy', 'betle/or more
'modern',or simplymorepowerful.Thesenew messaqemakersand rep- Thechoiceof the two datesis purposefut.By 'now we meanthe dateof
resenlalives of valuesgainon importance andassumethe roleot message wdlingthe presentstudy,that js March-April1999.The ,cursed'indicates
transmitters, which they can play in plural socieiies. herethe intervalbetween1985and 1990,i.e.the periodduringwhichth€
Furlhermore, it is crucial to undersland thal the mediumoi receptionhas socialist
regimefellapart.Naturally,
ws ars awarethatgeneralization is dis-
also changed iundamentally. During the years of the 'cursed',the maln putablo,no matterwhich intervalit targots.Furthemoro,compadngth6
receptorusedto be the people - an amorphous, unfathomable construciion prssenl,meaningherea nearlyten-monthpedodof the administration ot
thatwas basedon passivity. As opposed to lhis, the new receiving medi- the Obdn-cabinet, witha spanol fiveyoars,is no l6ssdlsputable, which
um,lhe sociely',is a construction that rests on lundamentally different prin- probablytakesaway,alongwith othermethodological problems,a great
ciples:it is generally of positive nature, multi-colored with many opposing dealfromthe 'scientitic'
valueof the study.Ths listof deficiencles
should
interesls,it doeshavea certainlevelof control,and is, at leastpartly,selt c€rtainlyinclude,besideotheritems,the simplification of the abovgindF
organizing. Althoughthe ovedapping betweenthe 'people'and 'society'is cateddeclaredvaluos,to a Singledetermining factor- the nearlyeveryday
significant, in practice the nomenclature of the target'audience p.edeler_ changeol the mediumbotwoen1985and 1990,or the influenceof the
mingsin itselfthe necessityof the intellectsal conlent, as well as its sala' inlernational
situationthenand now.Nevertheless. soclalsciencereouires
bilityor simplesale. a certainkind of g€neralization,
evenconcerninga mattorSo difficullto
Theschemebelowattemptsto draw,witha respeclto lhe aboveobser' defineas ours.
vations,a systemof socializing agenciesand messageswhichwe lound Yel,we cannotr€allydiscussthecolorfuldetailsofth6 messagea in these
the moslimportantnow and then', certainlywithoutlhe inlentjonof being i,voperiods,especially dueto lackof space.For lherewercolhsrmes-
exhauslive.However, lt is important to nole that lhe messags-making sagesboinglransmitted besidethosein Tablo1, bothby the party,for
agencies, orthe message-lransmitters, do nol appearln theorderoi impof' instancein 1987or in 1999,andbythe'gov6mm€nt'. Thatwe chosethe
tance,but followeach other beginning wilh secondary, mass-socializing abov€onesas b6inglhe mosiimporlant lor ourtopicls probablyaccept-
organizations, lo lhe primary ones, in the y€als preceding the fall ol ihe ableforeveryono, yottheexistenceof oth6rmessag€s cannotbs denied.
regime (during the cursod')and in the year preceding the 21sl cent!ry Fudhermore, it is notablethatthesocialisers
concentraled thgirmessages
ontheadultpopulation
especially in bothperiods - obviously,
Inth€ardor
 ofthelransitron, thecontinuous socializaiion oflheyounger generalion was Decomrng,more
lesspowertuland imponant,thanthe messagesaimedat the adults_ and rhoresignilicant: theseare the n6tworkso, acquain_
Ence,or theleisurely'evoningchals,.Thedemands
oflhe accolerato;wav
. So let us examinethe pairs of values.Thevitalmessageof the partyduF ur e ano rne acceleraledand performanc€-orient€d
ingthe curseowas rhe io,lowing.fverythingcan oe q-Lestioned. eicepl
.
te'ephone-frjendships,
wagesrevivedth;
rheteadtngroteof lhe parlyand tneimpl,c{nghtof theSovet Unionlo la;e thatusedto belrequentatongtmeigo. ruewtorms
of lriendshipalsoappearas a resuttof the Inremeq
up arms againstanyonewho attacksthe sociatistsystem.The presenl youngergeneration. €speciay amongthe
leadingparty'andits represenlative, I is not yet ctearfor the socialscientistwtratt<iiJJ
ihe Hunganan government, demands commonvaluesor jnterestslhesegroupsrepresent,
lirst of all a kjnd of depotiUcized passivity, thoughthe abundanceof thejr yet this sort ol soli_
darityhas obvioustya widerscope;f creativeana
otnermessagesincludea commilmenltowardsnationalism, .rni"uiion"iloi""
as well as a lhanit wasthe casewilhlormerinendshios. "i,i
geronlological supremacy. Similarly,questioning the vatue_pair of ihe ,West,-ideology, can be inter_
.Theschoolas a socializing mediumwasstjllconcentrating on thevalues estino.Th6 ,West,as a messagehas akeadytraOan
orientingiunc6
of smallcommunities between i985 and 1990,albeitthe communist com_ beforetho transjlion;it represenited
munitywas de facto non,exjstent freedom,welfareanotre m6Aernlai-
at that time,due to ihe diflerenliation lern,basicallyfor the wholesociety.lts magjcand attractiveness
whichwaseithermaterial,inlellectual, or in proportion withpowef.lt is not dentevenJorthemostzeatousrepresentatries was €vi-
by chancelhattheschool-system continlesmaintaining ot rf,u,rfingiOuolojy. iri.
the externalforms lhetjmeof thedirtydisputebetwoenNixonandKnruscfreuiif
of communities, includingthe constructjvedeslructive iorceof universilies coufdinfyte
lhe,vatues ot a highertormot sociolybuitton thezup"rto,piincipLsoicllil
and coljeges,and the desperareslruggleol etemenlaryschoolstor wrth- mon wefare that couldhave been brouohtup agatnsfin"
drawn9lhesmallcommunilies homtneturmoilolporilics. aigr."ni" of
Westernattraction.However,tho sociatizingmeisageof
Theroleof theschoolevolves in lhe samewayin 1999,aithouahits main tho"We$,jh;
oponpossibitities for the jndividuat,was by ind targJswepru*"y 6y ii.,"
message is lhevalLeol thelnoividual instead o{ lhe'Lommunit,. In spite eventsof the pasiton yeafs.
oJseveralunsuccesstul atlemplsof inlroducing a centralized nationalcur- lhiscontextthesocializing
,ln roleol theWesthasb€entak€noverbv id6_
riculum,the schoolslilltrieslo createsmallcommunilies and preseryetra, otogtes|n.
,an .tnler€sting way. certainlyI do not moan ideologyin its
dition,turningthus, oftenunnecessarjly and witholt anv sense,backto Eegoran-Marxian sensehere,bul as value-o€nteO,amorphous
'somepasta.d lorgoen lraditons, be lhoseorreligious, iystems.
civilor soc.ai iheorienting
function
ottOeorogyiras
not'erc;ed,
nalureor be it an exirememoliveand panern. 9::?'1"-"r.,
:10:o"i9ls,
rronryemDracoda different context.Whergastormerlyidooloqvbasicallv
Similarly, the messagesol lhe organized Jifehavealsochangeddramat_ ac|eo.asa vocabulary or an encyclopa€dia withinsocijt interco-urse,
ically.Theformernormsof fepresenlation of interestsenlorcedby theparty pantalyaccepledas beinga modeol implicitcommunication, it wai
- the officialtransmissjon beltsihai appearas valueslhrouqhwhichth; and lruth
waseitherhiddenin thBideologrcat trimmingsor dealtwithin a brielson_
u/elfarelurclrol of the soc,alistslateis reaiizeol- feltapartIn the Drevious Anybo9l coutdbeginwitha quoration
len years.In general. eve./'thing fallsaoarl,beginning :_eIe-:1:vol by Lenindraggedoul
witnt.adeunrors rom somowhere, and lromthenon, it did notreallymatterwhatf;-owed."
and the socialnet, io the hoiidayhomesand boalhousesownedbv ihe
companiFs. lt is thed.verse interesls thatremarnr by j999.andlhe mes. . However, the existingminimatroteof ideotogyin orientation anOsociat_
izationhas latelybeenfilledwithnew lormsand nsw ossencebv lhe
sageswill reflectthe fiagmentedvaluesof smallercornpanles Dar_
insteadol ties.A n€u four-potarideologicat orientation evotv€d:a iri"f_"Lti-j,
lhoseof the big ones.The CivilServiceWofters Union'doesnol relecl nalonat-conservalive, a socialistand a liberalon€. AlthouQh "
sinc6 1990
lhe party'smessagebut the messageof a smallcommunity of inlerests- noneof th6 parties,witha possibteexception ot the UtEfl triOa ctearlAo-
typicallyformulated againstlhe powerbul on jts ownbehalt. orogrcatoasts,and a of themtunctionedas catchallparties,thesecale_
The socializing forceof groupso{ frjendschangesas well_Dudnglhs goriesstilt coror lh6 newlyevotvedidoological
'cursed'lhecommonpurposeof erodinglhe systemskengthened orienting
lhe anti- casoo{ th€ FtDESZ,thepresentstateot beinga carchalipa;ty "ys"r",-fnii"
is;e ;6;;tt
regimesocializing roleof circlesol friends.From1990on,thecommunilies or an evotuttonprocess,in whichthe torm€rliborallyodeniodpartyfirst
ol triendsfall apart,poliiicsturnstheirmembersand the longfriendships approached the left,thenthe right,lhusdireclingits id;otogicalorieniatjon
againsteacholher.Althoughthereare certainsignsduing the Horn-gov- |norrerentwaysas w€ll.Thusthe FIDESZwidonslhosons; of thocatchall
ernmentthat the rancorous, hostilebehaviorco!ld somewhatabate,the padyto th€ changesof ils odentation in timeand space,rath€rlhan to a
FIDESZ-FKGP victoryagainweakensthesocialtzing forceoi iogetherness. differing
orientation of its memborship. :r.. l
Howev€r,yet anothertendencyshouldbe pointedout here_Whil€the
closedboundaries of theformercirclesof lriendsare considerably narrow-
ing,Otherlormsof informalmutualdependence emergewhichareactually 6 lh€t€chniquo
remhdjng
lh€ctassicat
years
orth6r,***. *. *" Zl'i"il"o,
lln
 However, theideological messages, insteadof movingto thecenlsr,tend Dolitical elit€.The Plimollinisters oemonslralive presence at religious.and
more and more to give a characlerislicprofileto the right,while they i"-tioiors-nationat events,lromchurch-consecrations to processions' signF
becomeincreasingly amoehouson thelett.Whereasthepartiesof theore- tleO'tlre strengthening ol this message on the on€ hand. while on th€ other
sontcoahton alongwilhtheI\rlEPlounda serviceable andpresentable rde. n"no ii atso O-emonsiraled his humrn relations lo th€ J€wish communityr
ologicalfaceduringthe olectionsof 1998,the Sociatjsls and the SZDSZ Ontn" *f'"f", boththe practiceof the earlyAntall-pedod andthEone lol-
lostit almostcomplelely. This is ol course,ex postde tacto,natlralin th€ l;wingthe electionsol 1998,emphasized th€ valugot the stfon$hsned
caseof lhe winnerand lhe looserparties,yet,whilethe FIDESZbasicaily roleof religion.
mincedall the valuesol th€ 'right'(changing,God,Hometand, Famity,into Nevodh;less, lh€sevaluesundoubtedly splitthe litty-yeaFold consent-
'Chrislianity, nls-
Homeland,Farnily')the oppositioncoutdnot decide,which whichwas,by the way,presenlin manyotherpedodsoftho Hungarian
messageit shouldtransmit.Paradoxically, itwasihe leftwhoinitiallyunder tnru!- thatinteoratecl the bellovesand unboliev€Ein thewhole or lhe socl-
look bringingIoMard the valuesof the Vtest'- from ptatolo the NATO, eii tne n"* diii"ion drovebelievers andunbelievers apart,it fomed - and
prac-
frommulti-nalionalization to globalizalion - but in thisway it gave{rpolher itill lorms- orioritysystemson the boundaryol rsligionand rsligious
values,likenalionalism or all those'sexy'mainideological approaches thal tice.lt also docideson lhe behallof believelsthos€ questons In wnrcn
canaifectmassesthe mosletfectively. unbelievers haveso lar felt secure,and keatsreliglousand laithatfiliation
The functionol religionworkedsyslemspecifically duringthe socralist as a vatueiuAqementyet' the mostinterosting is the tactthat the socioty
pracnce
era,lhere{orelhe relationbelweenthe slateand religionwassystem,spe- is not reallvtond ol lhis rellgiousdivisionSu eys on religious
cilictoo.Hungary, as longas the relationbehyeensiaieand religionis con- havenot revealeda radicalmoveol the entirosoclely towards a more rclF
cemed,was somewherein the middlebetweentho two exkemesof the otthe internalized values has not beon
SLua
Polishand Sovietrnodel.The relalionbetweenslate(party)and religion shown eithot "nO"n ""lualchange
"o"i"ty,
normalizedespeciallyafter l\,,lindszonty s departure,lhough in lacl th€ iho roleof the familyin socializalion hasalwaysb66nthe mostdiflicull
churchesalso normalizedtheir aelations wilh the state as a part ol the to analvzein lessopensociotiesThe value foming slrengthot lno lamlly
implicitand acceptedunderslanding thal underpinned socialunity.From *"" in aggressivere-socializing p€riods of 6ocialism'bothin the
this pointonwards,churchescouldsafelyguaranleethe value-ori€ntation "'iJ""r
rifties'andthe'si;ties'.lt repres€nted a bulwa*, prolsctlon' traditionit senl
of religionin a depoliticizedtramework. Tho more'militant'value-lransmia outmessaaes withinthewholesociety. even il lhoss Tamily valuosoflerco
le.s, as werelor inslanceFatherBulenyior the basis,communities were u sr"u, deal.lt is not by chanc€ that the socialistsocial-
ir#
"u"t'?rrt", in the lamily; Makalenko and
interpreted as a threatby boththe stateand the churchhierarchy. On the i.ution ,"* iig mo-stconsistentenemy
th€ community model and education
whole,it wasespecially the tradilionalreligious valueslhatlhe messageof l-r""i"n"i"rc suppodedand spread
lhe religiontransmiltedto th€ believers.The believelsmoreor lesscon. *iif'-a||*"iiuofd iour""s The'education lor community' soughtto destroy
finedtheirpublicreligiousbehaviorandappearance withintheframowo*s in" harmonizinq ctoseOcommunity ot the lamily with significant succoss
the socialisl'succ€ss ln the collapse ol the power.ol me
oi the compromising socialcontraclwhichtheyalsoaccepted. As for theit N€v€rlheloss:
ol sooallsm
intrinsicvalues,it cannotreallybe judgedhowthesewerekept. lamilvcannolbe viewedas an exclusiveand directsuccsss policy
Religionas a messagetransmitterkept and strenglhened its positioli in"?or""iuitoo"titution endeavours' utuanization, ths statg-wide
afterthe fall of the regime.The formermessage- an evidontlytolerated ii i"a-,jJ,-JJiilt"", tr'r"tuppgrtedpractceot commuting'.those all attacked
practiceand a minimalpreachingior the believers- atler 1990quickly in" t.ar"st;l;se community And thetamily signlticantly col'
irr"i".iu s ideas'
turnedintoa pracliceof muchearliertimes;the routineot the militanlrcli- ""
ffil" iffi-s;i;;;it"isiin rnutthrii" notdueto Malarenko
giousness. Theexclusionot the unbelievers, the demandfor indemnity for ifiJ nlto"tir oiuo,"u" and ;boholism accompani€s thehugssocialdis'
lodayaslhetevolution of industrialization" wo
boththe belioversand lho church,thesetactorstranslormed the polilical rlcario-nir'"r is menrion€d
rolesandcrealedan actualgapbelweensocialistandliberalvalleson one a"rgi""r only,thaltheerosion otthelamily is supported
i"i;"
sid6,and nationaland Christianonoson lhe other.Th6 politicalmossage i" it'" "t " "ote
'tlower:children' movement ol the70s'
backils privileges, :i'rr" ii.i"iGJ
"t"ri"ornilunitv
tor" & lhe lamily is somewhat Etrsngthened byfie eco-
of the church- whichwas militant,demanding estates, the
travelling'
schoolsandproperty, andthiswasthe casewithchurchesin general,lrom nomicgrowthof the 8Os(thegrealerwellare'thecommon tho party/state
Ch slianto theJewish,fromScientologists lo the Faiih-Congregation - was oiportrinity of o*ninga *€ekondcottag€)' butlhechangeol
anb zos contributes as well Theparty'leadersh'p recog'
characterized by intolerance and thg principleof "OneGod,ono truth'.lt *iiti"s inineoos
becamemoreand more6vid9nl,especially between1990and 1993,and
for a periodalterthe eleclionsol 1998- lhat lhe messageof "Hungary -a sx€cutivol! natu'al' h Hungary
9- ln th€ usA the rcligiousnessor €ligious praclicool a chi6t
Christiancounlry"had an extremelystronginfluenceon a partof the new
nizesthal familycan no longermeana dangerlo lhe leadingroleot the belweenmanualworkers andlho university-educated layer,the fundamon-
party.Paradoxically, this recognitioniunher weakenslhe familieswhich tallyrelievedandchaoticsocialization by the schoolimpressed themboth.
havebeenclosedup untilthen.As the senseof dangeris over,lamjlycan Theyhavetho tochnologyin theirhands:settinga videorecorder, dealing
fallapart peacefully'. witha thoughtor achievinga resultis not a problemlor them.As opposed
Transition has not induceda specialchangein ihe roleof family,espe. to the inhibitions of the generation bornin the 50s and 60s,th6irrespond
ciallyin the earlyyearsof the process.Thecommonutiljzation ol the new to challenges is nalural.Thecommonpointof theirvaluesis theircapacity
opporlunilies, regularkavelsto the West'becamea routinefof ihe b€tter foraccepling the n6w,the rsalityof relativiiy, andtheirinditference towards
olf layers,yet,for thetallensociallayersthefamilyas a valueonlystartsto absolute values.Theyaccsptthe practicalin everyfioldof life,andare not
formulaleby the middleof the decade.lt is only then thal ihe mutuallv reallyfondof value-oriented ideas.Theyrecognize theirinlereslsand real-
depondenl, closing(and closinginto themsetves) comnunrties, thai izothemaccordingto theirpossibilities.
becomomoreand moreatomized,beginto recognizethat theycan only Thegreatpolilicalexpeienceof lhe secondgroupwer6the yearsbefore
counl on themselves.By thai time, the economicsplit of lhe socielv andduringthe transilion."lts memberswereeitherbornin the 40s, in the
becomesevident, late60s or lhe early70s.Theyare tundamentally politicalb€ings,as their
Thisis whythe recognilion and policyol the FIDESZ,treatingfamiliesas experiences shapedlheir valuesjn the lield of politicsratherthan eco-
unilscreatingvalues,is valuableand interesting.'0Dueto theirowosocial- nomics,sports,or anyotherbranch.Althoughtheirwaysleadthemin quite
izationand background, familyand inlerdependence appearas poljtical diffgrentdiroctionsatterthg lransition,thBywere unanimousin anacking
values.Atthoughil seemsa cynicalremark,the politicaldireclionof ths the formerregime,eitheron lhe groundol ihe 'philos'-humandghts,or
FIDESZ- not onlyof the FKGP- usesthe threelevelvalueof'God, Fami- becausethey tried to extorminat€ tho nomonclaturo ol thg wast€fuland
ly, Homeland'when appointjnglhe lineto followon the boundaries of rcli- krationalregime,itswayol thinkingandilsconduct,Thos€bslongingto lho
gion(faith,thechurch),family(thebigtamilymodelwithmanychildren) and fomer groupnaturallyconfronledthe regimefrom 'liberal'diroction,while
nationalemotions.The circle closes up: the pre-modernization model lhe lallorfrom tational'one.Thek systemso{ networkwsre differgnttoo:
returnsevenif at a differentlevel. thebasisol ihe tormergroupusedto spanfromthe 'flyinguniversitt/(this
wasthe namegiven1othe freethinkingcircl€swhosemembersgathered
Politicalsocialization- politicalcultureal the turn of the millenium in odvatsllatsand houses)to Lakitelok, whereasthe membersofthe latter
concentrated aroundtho RajkCollege,the Facultyof Law andthe Univer-
Whenthis studywas completed, the calendarshowedthat ten yearshad sily of Economics, Ontytew ol them had or hav€a technicalintellectual
passedsincetheiall oi the regime.Tenyears,onlyhalfa generalion inlimo background.
is certainlynotenough1oevalualethe resultsof conlinuous socializationin The commonleatureof lheir value-judgements is th€ condemnation ol
the wholesociely.However, examininglhe severalsociallayers,it seems tho past (ths 'cursed'),albeittor ditferent roasons. For the liberalopposi-
evidenttodaythatthissocialization hasalreadybroughtaboutthe appear' tion,the condemnation of the one-partyregimois important for moralrea-
anceof a diametdcdlydiflerentculture.This new politicalcullurecan be, 6ons,as any kind of dictatorship offends human dignjty.Although their
evaluated on (1) the generaiionthat is in its latetwentiesandearlythirties members dif{erin agoa great deal and their socializationwas the develop-
now the polilicalelitewhosesocializalion
(2) was stronglyafiectedby lho mentof certainvalueslhat were built on eachotherand changeda lot
vaue erosionandthelreedomof valueslatementin the 80s.and (3)thos€ lhroughoutthe manyyears,havingbeenin opposition to the one_parly sys_
whofolnd or/andaccepteda neweconomicroleand its declatedvalues, temwas still their greatestpoliticalexpedence. For thig roasonmanyol
The membersof the firsl groupweretypicallybornaround1975.Their themacceptedjail, immigration, discrediting, porsonaland professional
actualsocializalionwenton at schooland in lhe lamilybetween1985and regression, yet oppositionto the one-partysystemr6malnedthe basisol
1995,and the agenlsoJtheiasocialization werethe groLrps of iriends,uni- lheirvalues.The historicalbackground of thoirsocializatlonis 1956,1968
versjly,computers and the iniernel; rather than pioneers and the KISZ andHolsinki;theirvalues,theirpoliticalculturoand behaviorweroformed
(CommunistYouihOrganization). Althoughthere are major dilferences bytheseevents.
Thevalue-iudgements ol theiryoungortellowsalsoevolv€din tho adull-

1o ll maybeinletreslng Io r€markthatil is thotighly closed,monogamous lypeol iamlywitt rhatrheroadBr

1r. rlisimporlant should
notconfus€ group
thebelow wllha szosz-FlDEsz
manychildrcnthatcharaclerises the dsclarodvaluesand beha!ourpallernoi lhe FIDESZ- bas6d,simplifi€dcompaing.Tho suppo.le.soi the abovePolilicalparligsincludeiollow€rsol
Theyregardtheinlifslc valloswhichsoclalised
leade.ship. lhemlo lhisideali2ed modelas rany dilterenl as v/ellaslhorodighl bs msmb€|sol olhorpar es
kindsoi value.onontalion,
a oalcrrro l o o w lo li6 *r o d so ce lv 6inon9rhos€who regardth€ lvo ori6nlationsas valles.
 s1c,1Da erocess.However.
rhe:rva.uesco-nororgrnaletrom
:lylt_
nrstorv, lionlo
srnce,due . tJ-ei Andrts Boz'ki
age,tl is onlyrl^eLnalyearsof r, e on;_oarlvsvs_
rem lhattneycan regardas the lime ot lhetrpohr:cal
awakenirg.Allhouqh
reaiposit,ve
renory.rheyca^nor
r.aveanyirnoot pJr_ Globalistsvs Localists:A Historic
]::9 expenence
: .,i:ll ?l I of lhis age eilher. Debate,
sonal Therefore, rhe ideologyof lhe revotu, and the position of the Left in
tioncanontyservethemas a basisfor orientation. Hu;;;;"
Neithe;ldeoloqic;|, ;;r
hjslor,cal orientaltor pjayssignrf,cant roleIn the:rpragmatic hielchv ol
valuesand patternsot behavor: lhe bas,sof theirpotiica cunure In.lherecentyears,thereis an increasjno
ach/evement andsuccessin whicheverfield
It is betweenthe trberal-orienled
age0rawslhemostsignilicanlly.
ol economy,
and poweFor.enteo
is o'oat_
societyor poiitics.
et;tes,th;l the cteav.
jii:;l,ffnru#*:in{J""fi
;K*:"":i !ili!i:i"Titr1:t*
oneorlhemostcontest"o globaiization
b.came
as theirsociahzat;o.tslemstromtnasame rop,""inrr,"*t"ijlt3""i3l'
values.
The third groupwhosepoliticalcllture is determtnable My purposoin thispapsris lo point
.'wrnners comprisesthe oul lhe similadlissbelweenthe coo-

!tji"":ff
liil:,"^:[iHt,
^
ot the economjcprocesses.
lLlperlormance ndt-rally
encewhelherit is a s,.r(cessiut
Thelevelof the jndividuat.s success_
rra[ersa q.ealdeat:il Takesa signficdntdi er
stockoroker a prosoerous
il:l:ifi":i:#"ii,f ",,,"ffi
l,:':i:::1"*::
employeeol a privatefirm, or even a forcedentrepreneur
bLsinessTan,
Y"t, theysharethe samepotiticatcuttureinasmrchas theyhave
an
who js con_ *:*:#l^"jj[ll"ii,::iil:Titf
lolo
Inth€tocat
pubhc
debares.
:nTj,,ff ls:;ffxs:",lfl """."j;[:
Inrhefirsrpart ,i, p"p"i ipi""lii"-,i
::ti"9 argumentbasadon parttcular
arreadyrecognjzedthe deteminantsand limitsof the form of b;havior
whichis neededlot success,or al leastfor survivalin the evolvedmarket
economy: andtheywerewihingto ddtuslto it TneyknowrhatsuoDortno
g1rmlm"":::ltu*::ijri*:i:
ji'uff::fil:
casesol Hu "f
partofthestudv,
tradaunors brilgs no euect.therefofetheirvalJeor.ectalion lolocate
rheHungarian I try
ti,il" ,i,ji"oli" l3""condthelranstormation
;n lhai rheHunsarian pili;;ir;;;,::.Ti:rins oi
respectis neutralal best.Theyacceptedwithouta questionthe conditions so;iarrst
concerntng sardryor protonged
sell-erploitalion. andtner conouct
workng hoursas a resultof a bargainand
ddjusts to this.pniiosopi icalq;estions d;fl#titT#t{lrrl"
I:[ri-il{l"".,,Bi"fr'hrsr,lffi ji
vvp"r"*'"-,-tlili,i
i:"fi1il11,y:iff ::l["J'ffiy-"1
or moraljudgements do notbotherthem,andin thekpoliticalbehaviorthey
havea lendencytowardsminirnaljnvolvement. : T,li;ffi
Oneof the aimsof this studywaslo illustrate, in whatwaythe Hungari,
an polilicalcultureon the threshotdof the lhird mileniumdiilersfrom-lhat
of lhe fjnalperiodot the socialistera.Althoughthe resultsof lhjs process
*,nftn,n:"*'*;::i[*t#{*1J[il"SL1
l. Dependenceand Independence:,Kur
can onlybe seenin parlstooay,thesepartsare akeadylastingetemenrs alt Ta6tltc'sttatesies
thalwillconstilule thepoliticalculture of thefutu,eHr,nqarian s6ciely. rorsurviuai-in
G iiiil;'

Translated
by KatatinCzajtik
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