Hungary and Poland in Times of Political Transition. Selected Issues

Poland and Hungary after the Second World War remained in the sphere of influence of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and couldn’t make independent decisions about domestic and foreign policies. Political transitions that began at the turn of 1980s has shifted the image of Central and Eastern Europe. Countries of the region regained the possibility to make independent decisions, which resulted in development of democracy, market economy and triggered transitions within the societies. Nowadays it is already 28 years since the political transition has begun. Hence, there are many questions about the course of this process in both countries. (...)The research was focused on two dimensions of a political system, i.e. the authors illustrated the condition of democracy as well as the condition of civil society in the countries concerned. The starting point was formed by comparative research into initiation of the political transition in Hungary and Poland, the adopted constitutional solutions as well as the manner in which the political system was functioning in the first years following the social and political adjustments. Further on, the researches on evolution of democracy in the both countries have been undertaken.