CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2014
| Author | Dybala, Maciej Bartosz |
|---|---|
| Title | "A WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING" - Political socialization within family and perception of undemocratic actions in a democratic regime |
| Summary | One could expect that in a society which went through decades of an undemocratic rule, those brought up in home environment with an atmosphere against this rule would punish a democratically elected government for undemocratic actions. This is because people are able to see between the lines and rationally scrutinize content of the rule and not only its surface. On the other hand it might be said, that the people are happy with the surface and as long as the rhetoric of the government is bashing the previous system, the undemocratic actions of this government can go unnoticed. This study examines those two scenarios in the context of the post-1989 Hungary. The survey embedded experiment was conducted on a sample of 1500 respondents with two experimental conditions and one control condition. In each condition the respondents are informed, that the present Hungarian government exercises power that allows it to introduce undemocratic changes in law. In the two experimental conditions, two examples of such changes are mentioned: one in accordance with the pre-1989 communist party ideology and one against this ideology. The degree to which respondents were exposed to the anti-communist socialization during adolescence is measured. The linear regression analysis is conducted with opinion about the present government being the dependent variable. The results show, that people with the anti-communist socialization background favor the present government more no matter what kind of undemocratic actions the government carries on. The results support thus the idea of a man with political attitudes based on emotions attached to the symbol of democracy vs. non-democracy early on in life rather than on reason and taking into account actual proceedings of a government. Possible alternative explanations of the findings are provided. Keywords: political socialization, family, Hungary, democracy |
| Supervisor | Toka, Gabor |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2014/dybala_maciej.pdf |
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