Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 29th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview WG8: Non-Governmental Organisations in CEE (Physical) Author(s) Agnes Horvath University of Tokaj Sarospatak Hungary Title The Role of Civil Society in Local Election Campaign in Hungary File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Agnes Horvath Abstract Researcher: Dr. Horvath Agnes Affiliation: Eszterhazy Karoly University Research Topic: The Role of Civil Society in Local Election Campaign in Hungary Research Questions: How can a local civil society contribute to local election’s campaign and affect cooperation among political actors during election? Case Study: The initiation of Electoral Code of Election by Agria Universitas Association in Eger, Hungary and its impact on local election’s campaign and political actors’ cooperation during election periods from 2010 to 2019. 1. Objectives and scope The case study centres on Agria Universitas Association, a civil society organization formed in 2007 in the city of Eger, Hungary, and their initiative called Electoral Code of Ethics (hereinafter referred to as ECE). ECE was compiled to prepare for the National Assembly and Municipal Elections in 2010. Candidates for local elections formulated the most important ethical standards and conformed to these standards during the election periods from 2010 until 2019. The objective of this study is to show how this initiative affected the local election campaign and the cooperation of local political actors. 2. Methodology The case study employs the qualitative methods with the view to gaining in-depth insight into the new initiation of the civil society. First, the author collected the number of politicians who signed the ECE and the total number of candidates in election campaigns to see the reception of politicians towards the ECE over the years. The ECE was continuously introduced during 3 elections of National Assembly members in 2010, 2014 and 2018. Besides, in order to investigate to what extent, the ethical code of election can affect the number of negative campaigns, the author collects the number of negative campaigns recorded in 3 voting districts from 2010 to 2018 during the elections when the ECE was applied and compares them with the total number of electoral campaigns in the same years to see whether the negative campaign number declines after each election period. 3. Results and findings After 3 election periods from 2010 to 2018, it can be seen that the initiation of ECE was widely supported by local candidates. ECE succeeded in raising the standard of local election campaigns as it strengthened the democratic political culture and contributed greatly to maintaining the transparency of elections. It is also evident that public actors engaging in this initiation worked on the basis of mutual consent regardless of their political party affiliation. It can be inferred from this study that a non-partisan and professionally credible initiative can be accepted by all political actors. Candidates also considered it important to uphold the principles of a democratic political culture and ethical conduct in the election campaign.
