Abstract

This paper provides a brief analysis of Hungary’s new 2011 Constitution. It highlights the most important and most widely debated provisions and focuses particularly on theConstitution’s novelties, such as economic constitutionality and the proposed extra vote for voters with children. The study also discusses the political situation in Hungary in which the preparation and the adoption of the new basic law took place. A young Government with a two-thirds majority in the Parliament has ambitious plans to strengthen the country. Political discussions on the draft Constitution exaggerated political divisions, but the adoption of the new Constitution is not likely to overshadow the current Hungarian Presidency of the European Union. From the perspective of political science, the paper addresses two interesting questions. What are the democratic limits to which a Government can make use of a parliamentary majority of more than two-thirds? Did the Hungarian Government exceed those limits, or is the perception that democratic rules have been infringed merely a ruse created by opposition minority parties?

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