Petőcz Kálmán (szerk.): National Populism and Slovak - Hungarian Relations in Slovakia 2006-2009 (Somorja, 2009)

Zsolt Gál: Argentina on the Danube - Populist Economic Policy as the Biggest Enemy of Sustainable Economic Growth

Zsolt Gál

stronger paternalists than potential voters of the socialists! This came as little surprise considering Hungary’s political discourse in recent years in which Fidesz advocates citizens’ right to free medical care and education and opposes further privatization.

Table 6

Paternalistic attitudes of Hungarian society - views on government’s role in particular areas (average answers on the scale of 0-100)

Fate

Labour

EducationSocial affairs

Housing

Agriculture

Population total

46.5

68.2

69.9

63.4

39.6

59.2

Supporters of:

Fidesz

50.5

70.1

77.4

64.2

39.8

63.9

MSZP

38.4

64.2

57.4

60.1

37.8

51.1

MDF

50.8

63.4

65.6

66.3

38.1

57.6

SZDSZ

49.1

57.4

58.7

55.4

42.8

55.6

Note: The average grades have been transformed from the original Jour-grade scale to a 100- point scale. Higher numbers correspond to stronger paternalistic attitudes. Answers in particular areas: Fate (0 = People themselves are responsible for their fates; 100 = Government should take greater responsibility in taking care of the people); Labour (0 = Tackling employment problems should be left up to market forces; 100 = It is government’s obligation to give jobs to the unemployed); Education (0 = Education is a form of investment and only tuition fees can guarantee proper functioning oj universities; 100 = It is government's obligation to provide higher education of young people even without tuition fees); Social affairs (0 = Reducing taxes should take precedence even at the expense of reduced Junds for health service, education system and various welfare benefits; 100 = It is an important Junction of the government to provide more funds to health service, education system and various welfare benefits); Housing (0 = Young people should solve their housing problems themselves but government should help them through soft loans and tax allowances; 100 — Solving the problem of young people 's housing in only thinkable through government-financed housing projects); Agriculture (0 = Agricultural products are like any other and their producers should depend on market forces; 100 - Government must financially support agricultural production, otherwise farmers would face existential problems).

Source: Fábián, Zoltán — Tóth, István György: Pártpreferencia-csoportok politikai azonosulása és redisztribúciós attitűdjei, 2008, pp. 398-399; 413-414; quoted from: TARKI Háztartás Monitor, 2007.

Another survey from 2008 also illustrated the dominance of (economic) leftwing and paternalistic values as seven in eight (88%) of Hungarian citizens older than 18 shared these values; on the other hand, the right-left economic division line that is pivotal in western European democracies plays a rather insignificant role in Hungary {Politikai térkép 2008-2009). It is plain to see from the political map featured in Graph 4 that most Hungarians are attracted to economic left wing and that the principal division line between political camps are cultural rather than economic issues.

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