The expert of constitutional law evaluates the 2002 elections in Hungary. The bipolar nature of Hungarian politics has become more apparent than before. There are less parties in parliament than in previous cycles and the cultural and political division of the nation appears to be enormous.

What can social science do with a concept like electoral behaviour that is supposed to explain the results of parliamentary elections. What are the independent variables that affect the voting citizen? A critical review of political sociology helps understanding the current Hungarian political press as well.

Martin Kovats, András Bíró, Ernő Kállai and István T. Kerékgyártó discuss the role of the so-called gypsy question in Hungarian history. The contemporary situation, however, is different from theprevious cases, in as much as the Roma identity became a political identity too. The marginalisation of the gypsy population and the low social prestige of the Roma undermine the trust in the political movements and parties. Another new feature is the preference of the Hungarian state for separate ethnicly-based politics.

The economy of the Roma is part of the economy of the social majority. The sources of gypsy livelihood are dependent on the economy of the society in general, which expects integration from minorities. After 1990, in all countries in Eastern Europe the gypsy was the first social group to be hit by the economic downturn, and they were also ignored by land reforms. Their positions in the labour markets are catastrophic.

Erzsébet Szalai summarizes the theses of her new book with the above title (published by Aula in Budapest, 2001) and it is followed by reflections by Tamás Krausz and Péter Szigeti. An edited version of the discussion held by the Friends of Eszmélet Society.