corruption

The domestic affairs of Hungary in the first decades of the twentieth century can be described as a series of intertwining corruption scandals. The study gives a joint analysis of four major cases during the years between 1903 and 1913. It examines the reason for the increase in the number of scandals and the way public sins became the central themes of the political agenda at the turn of the century.

In this paper the author gives an overview on the history of corruption in Hungarian Elections. In addition he examines the condition of the Hungarian legal, political and moral norms during the long 19th century to explore the complex reasons of corrupt practices. In the author's opinion the main elements are the following:
(1) The laws were not exacts, the juries gave the politicians forgiveness and the process of electoral petitions was expensive and complicated.

From the viewpoint of current perception and definition of corruption the first half the "long" 19th century represents a milestone. In the process of social modernisation (bureaucratisation, dissolution of corporative structures, spread of literacy etc.) new standards distinguishing between the legitimate co-creation of the public good and the legally and morally disqualifying practices of acquiring personal or group advantages were established.

The author introduces the main conceptual points of view and theories of corruption prevailing in social scientific research in the past four or five decades. Vörös analyse the problematic aspects of the traditional definitions, which regard to the place/sphere of occurrence of corruption (public office sector) and its legal demarcation as the main criteria for the defining of corruption.