On March 15, 2025, Dr. István Stumpf was awarded the Széchenyi Prize. On behalf of the entire Institute, we extend our heartfelt congratulations to our retired Senior Research Fellow!

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Mid-term strategic plan of the Institute for Political Science (summary)

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Leading the way in domestic political science: the Institute for Political Science has achieved outstanding publication performance in international journals between 2019 and 2022

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About our Institute

The primary objective of the Institute for Political Science of the Centre for Social Sciences (CSS) is to conduct basic research in political science. Researchers at the Institute conduct both theoretical and empirical research, and the results are disseminated to both the academic and general public at scientific and professional forums.

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Latest news

CfP - Challenges of Democratic Innovations in Europe (Research Workshop)

CfP - Challenges of Democratic Innovations in Europe (Research Workshop)

In democratic political systems, the main actors of representative democracy are party leaders, elected parliamentarians, and cabinet members. In addition to these, there are other ways of decision-making in a democratic political system such as participatory and deliberative democracy. These involve citizens and non-governmental organizations that aim to improve the social acceptance and effectiveness of political decisions. Research on democratic innovations focuses on successful practices and methods aimed at changing democratic governance and political structures to improve them. Such innovations range from direct democracy (e.g. referendums, agenda initiatives, recall) to deliberative practices (e.g. deliberative polling, consultative mini-publics, participatory budgeting etc.) in offline and online settings.

 

 

 

 

Publication: Miklós Sebők's article

Publication: Miklós Sebők's article

Publication: Miklós Sebők and Sándor Kozák have published a new article entitled ‘From State Capture to “Pariah” Status? The Preference Attainment of the Hungarian Banking Association (2006–14)’ in Business and Politics.

 

Latest posts

pti memo 04 – Quo Vadis in Turkey and Implications for Democracy in the World

pti memo 04 – Quo Vadis in Turkey and Implications for Democracy in the World

The latest post of the pti memo blog series offers insights from a thought-provoking lecture by Murat Somer, Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Özyeğin University Istanbul and Research Affiliate at the Democracy Institute of the Central European University. Titled "Quo Vadis in Turkey and Implications for Democracy in the World", the lecture explored current political developments in Turkey and their broader implications on combating democratic backsliding. The event took place on May 8, 2025, as part of the HUN-REN CSS Institute for Political Science’s Speaker Series.

pti memo 03 – Ideological Conflict, Logrolling, and Policy Reform

pti memo 03 – Ideological Conflict, Logrolling, and Policy Reform

The third blog post of the pti memo series summarises the lecture of Dr. Matthew Edward Bergman, Assistant Professor at Corvinus University of Budapest, titled “Ideological Conflict, Logrolling, and Policy Reform: An Analysis of Government Declarations in Western Europe.” The event was organised as part of the HUN-REN Institute for Political Science’s Speaker Series on April 10, 2025. This research, conducted jointly with Hanna Bäck (Lund University) and Wolfgang C. Müller (Universität Wien), investigates why some governments commit to more reform measures in their government declarations.

Mixed economic results and growing political conflict – Hungary’s 20 years of EU membership

Hungary is often portrayed as a problem case for European integration due to frequent clashes between Viktor Orbán’s government and the EU’s institutions. Yet, as András Bíró-Nagy and Gergő Medve-Bálint explain in their post on the LSE EUROPP blog, the country’s 20 years in the EU have also seen a relatively high level of compliance with EU policies and strong support for membership among the public.

pti memo 01 – Propaganda as a Social Process

pti memo 01 – Propaganda as a Social Process

In the first pti memo post, we summarise Christian Baden’s (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) thought-provoking lecture titled “Propaganda as a Social Process.” The lecture was hosted by the HUN-REN Institute for Political Science as part of its Speaker Series event series on January 23, 2025.