The Regional Development of Democratization and Civil Society: Transition, Consolidation, Hybridization, Globalization - Taiwan and Hungary

Different starting points, similar processes and different outcomes can be identified when comparing East Central Europe and East and South Asia. The two regions face similar global challenges, follow regional patterns of democratization and face crises. In communist times, East Central Europe was economically marginalized in the world economy, while some parts of Asia integrated well in the global economy under authoritarian rule. Europeanization and a favorable external environment encouraged the former communist countries to opt for the Western-style rule of law and democracy. Different external factors helped the Third Wave democracies in Asia, especially South Korea and Taiwan, which benefited from the support of the United States and other global economic, military and cultural partnerships to develop their human rights culture and democracy while facing their totalitarian counterparts, namely the People’s Republic of China and North Korea. The very different positions Taiwan and Hungary have in their respective regions follow from the different capacities of their transformation management since 1988-1989. Taiwan preserved its leading role and stable democracy despite the threat to its sovereignty from the People’s Republic of China. Hungary never had such an influential and problematic neighbor and was ensured security and welfare partnership by the European Union, which Taiwan lacked. While Taiwan was less secure, economic and social conditions were more favorable for democratization than those in Hungary. Hungary, in turn, held a leading position in democratization processes in the period of post-communist transition which was lost during the crisis and conflicts of the last decade (after 2006 and especially since 2010). Despite the fact that liberalization prepared the way for peaceful transition in both countries and resulted in similar processes of democratic consolidation in the 1990s, Hungary joined the ‘loser’ group in its region, whereas Taiwan is among the top ‘winning’ countries in its region. Taiwan at the moment is starting comprehensive reform processes toward enhanced democracy, civil rights and the rule of law, and Hungarian development is criticized by many external and internal analysts as straying from the path of European-style consolidated democracies towards illiberal trends and hybridization. Western global concepts of democratization may help to identify similarities and differences, and compare stronger and weaker factors in the democratic transitions in Asia and Europe within the Third Wave democracies

From a suppressed anti-communist dissident movement to a governing party: The transformations of FIDESZ in Hungary

FIDESZ, as an outlawed protest movement of the Kádár era, has preserved their specific type of “outlawed and clandestine” political tradition and identity. A strong anti-communism, a popular mobilizing strategy and an atmosphere of hatred towards the agents of Hungary’s communist past remained within the political culture of the party from the suppressed underground movement. The political generation of leading activists, including current Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has been socialized in the “underground” of the eighties. The experience of “being outlawed” under the Communist system has had longlasting effects on them. The “myths”, symbols, and “fights” of the suppressed protest movements keep themselves alive in the new political culture in the present goals and strategies of FIDESZ-MPP. The former protest movement transformed itself into a minority party with liberal affiliations in the new parliament of 1990. However, as the Hungarian Liberal Party (SZDSZ) moved into a governing alliance with the successor to the Communist party, FIDESZ moved to the right, becoming its leading force. Competition between five centre-right parties led to FIDESZ’s control as the leader of a centre-right government (1998-2002). While the socialists (MSZP) and liberals (SZDSZ) became governing forces twice (2002- 2010), FIDESZ became a mobilizing populist party, gaining hegemony within the parliamentary and extra-parliamentary opposition. The economic and financial crisis assisted FIDESZ in mobilizing protest, leading the FIDESZ-KDNP alliance to a two–thirds majority victory in the 2010 elections

From the Manorial Village to the Regional Center. The Economic Development of Barcs in the Period of Dualism

At the very beginning of my essay I point out that what kind of natural and economical conditions Barcs have had in the 19th centuries. This is important becouse I had to place Barcs into this medium, which in the beginning of the 19th was a simple manorial village situated in the flood plain of the Drava. The Drava river had a great impact on the improvement of the village. This little manorial village by the end of the century became one of the determinative villages in the region of southern Transdanubia. I show why was the location of the village so importan at that time. As a vehicular interchange and with its warehouse capacity by the beginning of the 19th century it was significant too. There were five railway lines that are met in Barcs in the begining of the 20th century. So it was a significant vehicular intersection at that time. Furthermore after Kaposvár it was the second biggest industrial centre of the county. By this time it was famous about its wood and mill industries across Europe. Moreover it had a regional centre role at different types of food industries. I introduce to what kind of economical processies and infrastructural investments helped the large economical developement of the village. At the end of my essay I want to show the series of event

Political science - Hungary

Analysis of the pre-1989 situation; The development of political science since 1989; Core theoretical and methodological orientations; Thematic orientation and funding; Public space and academic debates; Views on further development and major challenges

Wood Industry in the Region of the Dráva at the Age of Dualism

The purpose of the study. In the rapidly industrializing Hungary, the wood industry became an important economic branch in the country by the beginning of the 20th century, which also played a significant role in the country’s foreign trade. This industry was extremely important in the area I studied, as the forest cover along the Dráva was above the national average, and the quality of the forest stock also had an international reputation. In the last third of the 19th century, domestic and foreign demand for wood products increased, which was accompanied by an increase in the purchase prices of wood raw materials. Applied methods. I involved sources from monographies, employment and census records, and my own data from researches of archives. In my study I present the larger wood companies in the region, the results of the plants, the operation and extent of the industry, and their market relations. I also made a structural analysis examining the entrepreneur and its business together. Outcomes. During this period, the logistical and transportation possibilities of the region improved, as the railway lines – built almost completely until the war – networked the region. In addition to transport on the river, crossing opportunities also increased, so the raw material could reach a processing unit more and more quickly. In the age of dualism, a strong stratum of forest owners and entrepreneurs in the wood industry developed. Major wood industry enterprises were established mainly in the larger estates (Bellye, Dárda, Barcs, Berzence) or through citizenship in the territory of certain large municipalities. Outstanding among these was the Beliscian plant beyond the Dráva, which in two decades had become the largest timber company in Central Europe, employing thousands of people

"Chicagónak indult, Barcs lett belőle..." : Barcs gazdasági fejlődése a dualizmus korszakában

At the very beginning of my essay I point out that what kind of natural and economical conditions Barcs have had in the 19th century. This is important becouse I had to place Barcs into this medium, which in the beginning of the 19th was a simple manorial village situated in the flood plain of the Drava. The Drava river had a great impact on the improvement of the village. This little manorial village by the end of the century became one of the determinative villages in the region of southern Transdanubia. I show why was the location of the village so importan at that time. As a vehicular interchange and with its warehouse capacity by the beginning of the 20th century it was significant too. There were five railway lines that are met in Barcs in the begining of the 20th century. So it was a significant vehicular intersection at that time. Furthermore after Kaposvár it was the second biggest idustrial centre of the county. By this time it was famous about its wood and mill industries across Europe. Moreover it had a regional centre role at different types of food industries. I introduce to what kind of economical processies and infrastructural investments helped the large economical developement of the village. At the end of my essay I want to show the series of events which crash this tremendous economical and social change in barcs after the I. World War. A dolgozatom elején ismertetem Somogy megye természeti és gazdasági viszonyait a 19. századra vonatkozóan. Ez azért fontos, hogy ebben a közegben elhelyezhessem Barcsot, amely a 19. század elején még egy, a Dráva árterületén fekvő egyszerű uradalmi falu volt. A Dráva folyónak nagy hatása volt a település fejlődésére. Ez a kis falu a század végére a dél-dunántúli régió egyik meghatározó településévé vált. Közlekedési csomópontként és raktározási kapacitásaival a 20. század elejére országos viszonylatban is kiemelkedővé, továbbá Somogy megye, Kaposvár utáni másodig legnagyobb ipari központjává vált. Európa szerte híres volt a korszerű faiparáról és malomiparáról. Továbbá régiós központi szerepe volt különböző fajta élelmiszeriparokban. Ismertetem, hogy milyen gazdasági folyamatok és infrastruktúrális beruházások segítették a település nagymértékű gazdasági fejlődését. A dolgozatom végén megmutatom az események sorozatát, amelyek megtörték ezt a hatalmas gazdasági és társadalmi változást Barcson az I. Világháború után

Investigation of effects of two environmental heavy metals in a combined exposure model on the nervous system in rats

In the present study, the interaction of inhalational and oral exposure to manganese and lead was investigated. Young adult male Wistar rats (2 x 10 per group) were treated orally with MnCl2 (15 and 60 mg/kg b.w.) or Pb acetate (80 and 320 mg/kg) for 3 or 6 weeks. Then, one half of the groups was further treated by intratracheal instillation of nanoparticulate MnO2 (2.63 mg/kg) or PbO (2 mg/kg) for an equal period of time. Body weight gain and signs of general toxicity were regularly checked. Finally, the rats’ motor behavior was tested in an open field box, and their spontaneous and evoked cortical electrical activity was recorded in urethane anesthesia. MnO2 nanoparticles caused disproportionately strong reduction of body weight gain but with Pb the weight effect was more dependent on dose. In the open field test, Mn caused hypomotility, more strongly after 6 weeks oral plus 6 weeks intratracheal than after 6 weeks oral treatment. Pb-treated rats showed increased ambulation but less rearing and somewhat longer local activity. Spontaneous cortical activity was shifted to higher frequencies after oral Mn application, but this change was not intensified by subsequent nanoparticle application. Oral Pb had an opposite effect. Cortical evoked potentials showed latency lengthening. In several cases, the effect of Mn and Pb was about as strong after 3 weeks oral plus 3 weeks intratracheal as after 6 weeks oral administration, although the summed dose was ca. two times lower in the former case. There can be a more-than-additive interaction between the amounts of heavy metals entering the organism in different routes and chemical forms

Az agilis módszertanok megítélése a beosztottak és vezetők szemszögéből

A különböző területeken alkalmazott szoftverfejlesztési módszerek erőteljes mértékben határozzák meg a vállalatok alapvető működését. Mivel az információs társadalomban felértékelődött a szoftverek szerepe, így elmondható, hogy jelenleg radikális változásoknak vagyunk tanúi, amelyek kihatással vannak a szervezet struktúrájára és vezetésére egyaránt. A 2000-es évek elején a korábbi klasszikus szoftverfejlesztési modellek mellett – mint például az úgynevezett vízeséses modell – a gyorsuló technológiai és piaci fejlődésre válaszként megjelent egy új módszertan, az agilis. Ez az irányzat és ennek eszközei (például a Scrum, a Kanban vagy az eXtreme Programming) sokkal inkább koncentrálnak a piaci változásokra, az ügyféllel történő folyamatos kommunikációra, és a visszajelzések alapján a fejlesztés irányának rugalmas kezelésére, mint a korábbi modellek. Ezek bevezetése Magyarországon megközelítőleg 5-6 évvel ezelőtt kezdődött el, és a legtöbb szervezet még jelenleg is tanulja a módszertanok hatékony alkalmazását. Az agilis eszközök alkalmazása a szervezet egészére kihat, így annak a bevezetését, az implementálás sikerességét, a különböző elemek hatékonyságát a beosztottak és a vezetők másképpen ítélik meg. Jelen cikk ezeket, az eltérő nézőpontok közötti hasonlóságokat és különbségeket mutatja be agilis szoftverfejlesztéssel kapcsolatos szakmai közösségekben terjesztett kérdőíves megkérdezés segítségével

Kelet-Közép-Európa térszerkezeti képe = The spatial structure of East-Central Europe

The aim of this paper is to explore and analyze the main characteristics of East- Central Europe’s spatial structure and its changes during the recent years. In the first section we summarize the theoretical foundations of the notion and the elements of spatial structure, mainly based on our previous research. We discuss the complex way of the description of spatial structure (the regional development inequalities and the differences of socio-economic concentration), and analyze its three main elements (node, axis, zone). The next part reviews some recent and older literature about the changing ideas and approaches of spatial structure of Europe. We also describe the macroregion’s position in the spatial structure of Europe. The main difference between the point of views is whether the continent shows a polycentric spatial structure or a centre-periphery model, and whether East-Central Europe is a semi-periphery of the continent or a potential economic centre. Finally, based on the literature synthesis and our own calculations based on regional data provided by Eurostat, we trace the spatial structure of the macroregion. The more and less developed zones show a West–East contrast with some segregated, more developed regions in the Eastern part, but there isn’t a large socio-economic central area. The nodes are not concentrated, they have different social and economic weights, and the axes are probably the Pan-European corridors. The main change of the spatial structure in the 2000s is that the Southern part of the macroregion has become more homogeneous (a less developed zone)