Preexisting liberal policies let Hungarian reformists cooperate with opposition before regime change

Evidence

In Hungary, radical change was also seen as inevitable. By 1988, one of the Hungarian party leaders had already argued that “no progress is possible without a transformation of the entire structure of socialism,” and the first of these moves would be the separation of party and state. The Hungarian party also had the benefit of mutual support between party and opposition reformists as a result of the party’s liberal policies. By February 1989, even the party’s ruling elite acknowledged that the party had to “face up to a new situation, in which participation in policy-making depended not only on the party.” A month later, the Hungarian Central Committee admitted the necessity of a multiparty system and other political liberalization. — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past, 358

Categorization

• XREF: Direct comparative case for the reading purpose: Hungary’s party had a pre-1989 reform alliance enabling transformation, contrasting with parties lacking such ties. — connects to: Hungarian party relaxed ideology and adopted internal pluralism after 1956 — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past: The…, 313; Negotiation with opponents during a regime’s crisis shapes post-regime party alignment — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past: The…, 171; Hungarian party leadership embraced multiparty liberalization before the 1989 collapse. — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past: The…, 358 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Hungarian party leadership embraced multiparty liberalization before the 1989 collapse. #corroborates (0.85) — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past, 358
• Past regime practices predict how communist parties exited power #corroborates (0.82) — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past, 100
• Negotiation with opponents during a regime’s crisis shapes post-regime party alignment #expands (0.80) — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past, 171
• Prior regime conduct determined whether parties collapsed or negotiated transitions #corroborates (0.80) — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past, 100
• Authoritarian coalition-building approaches shape post-transition political incentives. #expands (0.75) — Johan Brosché and Hanne Fjelde and Kristine Höglund, Electoral violence and the legacy of…, 30
• Reformist factions help transform a party then must be suppressed to consolidate elite control #qualifies (0.72) — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past, 406
• Political actors form through regimes rather than preceding them. #qualifies (0.72) — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 576
• Pacted transitions preserve predecessor regimes’ legal and economic frameworks #complicates (0.70) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1607