The paper offers an anthropological analysis of an event of the Mint-a-Parlament (Moot Parliament) educational programme. It departs from the canonical literature on parliamentary research in several respects. It differs from the established works in the field in terms of its subject matter, approach as well as genre. The research design was built upon six core principles. These are as follows: the primacy of fieldwork and participation; the inclusion of the actors' knowledge and self- reflection; small scale; attention to archaic and symbolic aspects of the social phenomena and the prominent role of interpretation. Methodologically, the study combined elements of ethnographic observation, scientific group interview, case study design and grounded theory. Viewed from this perspective, the training event based on the modelling of legislation can be described as a secular rite. Based on the field observations as well as the content of the group interview, it can be stated that the event had a deeper function and involved an intensive use of symbols. It had a particular, supplementary meaning for the participants. The central finding of the analysis is as follows: the Mint-a-Parlament (Moot Parliament) can be interpreted as a carnival ritual. The clothing of the young participants showed that they had dressed up in ‘politician costumes' for the duration of the simulation, recognising and following the carnival-like logic of the event. In accordance with this they put on the costume of the ‘man in uniform' that of the ‘well-dressed' man. The carnival costumes of the participating university students suggested that in their transformation they were trying to bring to life a specific layer of the MP's role, i.e. the figure of the ‘law factory professional'.
Keywords: Hungarian Parliament; anthropological approach; gamified education; simulation of legislation; secular rite
Gábor Pál, Associate professor, Ludovika - University of Public Service , Pal.Gabor@uni-nke.hu
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In January 2006, Conservative Party led by Stephen HARPER ended more than 12 years of Liberal rule (1993-2006) by winning 124 seats versus 103 for Liberals. From 2006 to 2011 Liberal Party had been constantly losing its political ground by 2011, being reduced from the "natural governing party" to third party status for the first time, as they won the fewest seats in its history. This explains why the party led by Justin TRUDEAU tried everything to find a way out and to regain its worthy position in the Lower House. He promised major electoral reform in the 2015 electoral campaing: "We are committed to ensuring that the 2015 election will be the last federal election using first-past-the post", making "every vote count", for the sake of democracy.
The 2015 federal election was won by the Liberal Party, winning 184 seats, allowing the Liberals to form a majority government. Despite his promise, Trudeau gradually backed away from his pledge, saying that "there is less need for electoral reform now that the Conservatives are out of power." Despite people's disappointment, Trudeau argued that the lack of consensus on the reform, and the fact that a referendum or proprtional voting would be divisive for Canada, his only choice is to abandon his promise bearing the consequences because he "will not compromise on what is in the best interest of Canada". The main objective of this paper is to provide an analysis of this complex process.
Keywords: Electoral reform, reform process, types of electoral reform, interest-oriented motivations, value-oriented objectives.
Levente Nagy, Associate professor, Head of Department , University of Debrecen, Political Science Department, nagy.levente@arts.unideb.hu
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