Urbs - Magyar várostörténeti évkönyv 2. (Budapest, 2007)

Abstracts

from their own resources and revenues. Apart from public transportation, they had many infrastructural developments to solve such as canalization, public lighting, building water and gas pipelines, etc. The investment and the sales data all reflect that the establishment of public transport was justified in both towns, and that there was an everyday need for these services. KÁROLYIGNÁCZ Municipal Elections and the General Assembly of the Municipal Board of Budapest, 1920-1945 Neither the four local elections between 1920 and 1935, nor the one in 1945 were held at the date designated by the law, that is, when the Municipal Board's mandate expired. The governments of the period postponed or advanced municipal elections in service of their political goals. During the Horthy-cra, the right-wing government used a variety of legal tactics (limiting the right to vote, gerrymandering district boundaries, prescribing high standards of recommendation for eligibility) to hinder the election of a political body that reflected the true preferences of the capital's inhabitants, and to avoid the possibility of a political takeover by the opposition. On the contrary, local elections in Budapest in the autumn of 1945 were democratic. Elections were characterized by high rates of participation: in 1930 and 1945, more than 90% of those entitled to vote went to the polls. Between 1920 and 1945, election results revealed much stability in the distribution of left-wing liberal and right-wing forces. This balance of power was reflected in the regional distribution of votes cast for the respective political sides as well. The bulk of voters supporting the right-wing parties between the two World Wars, and the Smallholders' Party in 1945, lived in the inner districts of Buda, while the Social Democratic Party, and in 1945, the joint list of the Labour Party received most votes in Angyalföld and parts of Erzsébetváros. Support for the liberal parties was exceptionally high in Lipótváros and Ujlipótváros as well as in the inner parts of Terézváros and Erzsébetváros. In the Horthy era, the absolute majority of the right was secured by the various groups of members in the General Assembly, who acquired their scats outside of the electoral process. From 1920, their numbers grew steadily; in 1935, they represented as many as 40% of the members. The proportion of female representatives stayed bel ow 5% until the end of World War II, and then in 1945, it jumped to 12%. Understandably, the ratio of new representatives was highest in 1920 and in 1945, while the turnover was lowest in 1930: then, two thirds of elected representatives had already been in office.