Political Orientations, Values and Activities of Hungarian University and College Students Andrea Szabó (ed) Contents Contents 3. Preface 5. Research methodology 6. About the structure of this volume 7. I. Students’ relationship to democracy 9. I. 1. Introduction 9. I. 2. The most important results from the interviews and focus group discussions. 10. I. 3. Full-time college and university students’ opinions of democracy 14. I. 4. Lack of evaluation and its negative effects on students’ views of the “existing” 17. democracy. II. Interest in public and political life 21. II. 1. The model of interest in public affairs 23. II. 2. The model of interest in politics 24. II. 3. Which news portals do voters of different political parties favor? 24. III. Hungarian university and college students’ values 26. III. 1. Methodological framework 26. Political Orientations, Values and Activities of Hungarian University and College Students III. 2. Results of the study 27. Active Youth in Hungary Research Group III. 2. 1. What do we know about post-materialistic students? 28. III. 2. 2. What do we know about materialistic students? 28. Edited by Andrea Szabó III. 2. 3. How do we characterize people with mixed values? 30. Commissioned by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung in Prague Briefly about green youth 30. IV. Political participation among hungarian youth 31. Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung | Prague, 2013 IV. 1. Traditional participation 33. IV. 1. 1. Level of organization 33. POLITICAL ORIENTATIONS, VALUES AND ACTIVITIES IV. 1. 2. Participation in elections 36. OF HUNGARIAN UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGE STUDENTS IV. 2. Collective participation 37. IV. 3. Virtual participation 40. Copyright IV. 3. 1. What factors influence youth activism online? 42. © András Keil, Dániel Oross, Dániel Róna, Andrea Szabó (Authors) IV. 3. 2. With what can we associate college students’ participation in 45. © Andrea Szabó – Decilis Social Research Center (Editor) organized protests? © Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung (PUBLISHER) IV. 4. Conclusion: participation structure of hungarian students 46. V. Distribution of party preferences among hungarian college and university student 49. All rights reserved! V. 1. Jobbik 51. V. 2. Fidesz 53. Publisher: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung V. 3. Együtt 2014–PM 56. Translated by Márton Lukács VI. Conclusion 64. Layout editor: Tamás Kerekes VI. 1. Political activeness of hungarian youth 64. Cover photo: Philippe Leroyer | Student Demonstration - 27 November 2007, Paris (France) VI. 2. Important conclusions from this study 67. (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Appendices 70. Research supported by OTKA PD 105100 Bibliography 76. Figures and tables 80. The findings and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect About the authors 82. the positions of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung. ISBN: 978-80-260-5516-7 4 Political Orientations, Values and Activities of Hungarian University and College Students 5 Preface Nearly 25 years have passed since the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe. Has this period allowed for the emergence of a new generation of democrats? Have young people successfully come to terms with their countries’ authoritarian past and developed a commitment to democracy as a system of rule? Are they ready to defend it in the face of challenges? These questions are all the more timely as social scientific research focusing on youth has highlighted the emergence not only of progressive tendencies in the region, but also of the rising influence of social organizations and networks that propa- gate ultranationalist, xenophobic, and authoritarian views and values. This study was commissioned by the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung with a view towards gaining a deeper understanding of the political values, orientations, and activities of Hungarian full-time university and college students. The decision to focus on Hungary was warranted by recent social and political developments there, which have laid bare socio-political contradictions and ills that are also palpable in other countries of the region but have not manifested themselves in such obvious ways as – to name but the most worrisome trend – widespread support enjoyed by Jobbik, a xenophobic party whose hate campaigns targeting Roma and Jews have raised concerns all over Europe. By publishing this study, the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung would also like to draw attention to the problems that young Europeans find themselves confronted with in the current epoch and, more specifically, to the link between the prospects offered to upcoming generations by political elites and the prospects of democratic citizenship for our European societ- ies. Instead of branding certain segments of this generation as ‘hopeless’, ‘irrational’ or ‘inherently xenophobic’ politicians and policy-makers should identify legitimate claims and concerns with a view to creating discourses and policies that offer new paths of integration for those approaching adulthood. This study goes a long way in highlighting some of these concerns in one particular country, but we trust that it will help the work of policy-makers and other professionals committed to democratic values in the whole region and perhaps even beyond its confines. We would like to express our gratitude to the editor and the authors of the study for their efforts and hope that they will have the opportunity to pursue this important line of research in the future. Kristóf Szombati Eva van de Rakt Coordinator of activities in Hungary Director, Prague Office Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung 6 Political Orientations, Values and Activities of Hungarian University and College Students 7 Research methodology The structure of the study This research has applied qualitative and quantitative methods of empirical social science The first chapter analyses college and university students’ relationships to democracy and research to this question. As part of the qualitative study, seven focus group discussions dictatorship and asks how Hungarian university and college students relate to “ideal” and were organized at the country’s major academic centers (Budapest, Debrecen, Pécs, Mis- “real” democracy. The second chapter examines the extent to which students are inter- kolc, Szeged and Gyo’’r). During the focus group discussions, the characteristics of youth ested in politics and public life. As is repeatedly pointed out in later chapters, not only is radicalism and post-materialistic values were tested for and examined. Information was political interest is a key factor explaining the level and forms of activity that characterise collected about student organizations working in universities, about the motivations for different groups of young people, but it also plays a decisive role in the development of youth political participation, and about patterns of students’ socialization. their preferences, values and ideological orientations. The focus group interviews were then completed through 20 in-depth personal interviews The third chapter examines the value system of Hungarian university and college students. with leaders of student governments and activists from youth NGO’s linked to higher ed- The chapter begins with Inglehart’s theory and tests how post-materialistic and materi- ucation. Qualitative techniques were used to provide a more in-depth exploration of the alistic values permeate students’ thinking. In connection with post-materialistic value topic. Among the subjects of the 20 in-depth interviews there were student government orientation, the main features of “green students” are also explained. The fourth chapter leaders in higher education, activists from youth organizations, and the leaders of the describes the political activity of the student population. The analysis distinguishes be- political parties’ youth sections. tween three forms of political participation (traditional, collective, and virtual), examin- ing each with the same methodological framework. The section concludes by presenting a Examinations of new issues and problems were also built into the second stage of our general model of participation. analysis within these interviews and focus group discussions. For example, during the empirical stage, student emigration and the permissive attitudes of youth towards dicta- The last chapter analyses the relationship of Hungarian university and college students torship were closely examined. to political parties. Among the youth the most popular parties are the Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik), Fidesz, and Együtt 2014–PM. Voters of these three parties are In March–April of 2013 an empirical survey was conducted utilizing a sample of 1300 analysed in detail. students.1 The survey was conducted with the hybrid technique: 859 persons (66% of the sample) filled out an online survey at www.aktivfiatalok.hu through the website, while **** another 441 persons (34% of the sample) were asked to answer questions via face-to-face Our special thanks to Eszter Vay-Farkas and Kristóf Szombati for their contribution to interviews. and comments on a previous version of this study. The face-to-face interviews took place between 11 and 25 April 2013 in 35 institutions Authors who contributed to the preparation of this analysis: across the country. Following the personal interviews, the results of the two different sur- vey techniques were weighted for representativeness at a three-dimensional faculty-level. András Keil The aspects and considerations of weighting were: Dániel Oross • The composition of the institution’s faculty; Dániel