Istvánovits Eszter (szerk.): A nyíregyházi Jósa András Múzeum Évkönyve 57. (Nyíregyháza, 2015)
Helytörténet - Sipos József: A Bethlen-kormány és az 1922-es választások előkészítése
Sipos József government demanded maximal loyalty. The majority of public servants did everything - in many cases illegally - for the victory of the Unified Party. The government called elections only in the end of April. This favoured the Unified Party and the abridged campaign made the situation of the opposition even more difficult. Constituencies were chosen so that in most of them in the counties voting first, open voting went on. In these places, the illegal intervention of local authorities promised the victory of the Unified Party. Thus, they could influence the results of the second round of elections. All these facts attest that the government and the Unified Party prepared not a democratic election, but fought for its own victory with all kinds of legal and illegal methods. That is to say, they did not meet the demands of civil democracy. The anti-democratic election system and illegal intervention of state bureaucracy had far-going consequences. Political power relations formed during the 1922 election created an anti-democratic, authoritarian system. As we could see, the main responsibility lies upon Count István Bethlen, Count Kunó Klebersberg and the conservative governing elite led by them. József Sipos University of Szeged H-6722 Szeged Egyetem utca 1-3. e-mail: dr.siposjo@gmail.com 272
