Századok – 2012

KÖZLEMÉNYEK - Püski Levente: Képviselői jövedelmek a Horthy-korszakban I/79

KÉPVISELŐI JÖVEDELMEK A HORTHY-KORSZAKBAN 107 The present study is the first in Hungarian historiography to analyse in detail the decisions which were taken in this matter: what sums exactly were voted by the representatives for themselves, and how the money was paid in practice. It also pays attention to the political factors which may have influenced the decisions, and to the reasons which underlay the fact that the payments due to the members of the Hungarian legislative assembly reached the highest level in the second half of the 1920 and during World War II. It also examines how and in what circumstances the money was paid, and the place it occupied within the parliamentary budget. The definition of MP salaries was not merely a technical task but a matter of serious political implications and related to a number of other issues, such as the law regulating the representatives' incompatibility. The methods and amount of payments due to the MPs became one of the issues of political discourse from the late 1920s. The study examines the reforming ideas which emerged with regard to the problem, and also the process which contributed to the decline in the prestige of the legislative body.