The Logic of Post-Communist Regimes: Towards a New Terminology

Based upon his research of ideological framework and organization of political power in today’s Hungary, Magyar will compare the characteristics of three ideal-type political regimes: communist, liberal democracy, and post-communist autocracy. His analysis will focus on the main actors, the nature of property rights, and patterns of corruption. Particular attention is given to the relationship between state and organized crime, the role of law and legality, re-nationalization, and ideology and media.

Bálint Magyar is a sociologist and a former Minister of Education in Hungary. He was a human rights and oppositional activist to the communist regime between 1979 and 1990, then became an elected Member of Parliament in 1990. In 1988, he was a founding member of the main liberal party in Hungary (Alliance of Free Democrats) and as a party leader was involved in negotiating the democratic transition in the country. He is the author of Post-Communist Mafia State: The Case of Hungary (Central European UP, 2016).