A Democratic Legislature in the Making

Abstract

Changes in the rules of the electoral game in established political systems normally can bring about marginal shifts in partisan biases, but in the early days of fragile, new democracies, the electoral law carries great significance. The historic March-April 1990 elections in Hungary provide an opportunity to investigate the political effects of a system that merges single-member and proportional selection of parliamentarians. This system led to the impressive electoral victory of the Hungarian (Magyar) Democratic Forum (MDF). The authors analyze the electoral biases that contributed to the MDF victory and, by the same token, to the fate of the other political parties. They evaluate the electoral system in light of its probable consequences for effective democratic government in Hungary.

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