Culture and Identity: Two Emerging Topics in Hungarian Constitutional Law

Miklós Könczöl

doi:10.54201/iajas.v4i1.127

Authors

Miklós Könczöl Pázmány Péter Catholic University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8789-4291

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54201/iajas.v4i1.127

Keywords:

culture, identity, political ideologies, constitutional interpretation, Fundamental Law of Hungary, topics

Abstract

The paper discusses the concepts of culture and identity within the context of the Fundamental Law of Hungary. The first part focuses on the relationship between the state and culture, both from a conceptual and an ideological point of view. The second part examines how references to culture and identity appear in the Fundamental Law. It is argued that by juxtaposing the two terms in Article R, the Fundamental Law seeks to broaden the meaning of constitutional identity, to include a historical-cultural dimension, and make it a rhetorical topic useful for the construction of exclusivist arguments.

Author Biography

Miklós Könczöl, Pázmány Péter Catholic University

Associate Professor, Department of Legal Philosophy, Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest, Hungary. Research Fellow, Institute for Legal Studies, HUN-REN Centre for Social Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

References

Bor, B., & Könczöl, M. (2019). Towards a semiotic theory of style in law: a Peircean approach. International Journal of Law in Context, 15(3), 263–273. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744552319000272

Drinóczi, T. (2016). Az alkotmányos identitásról. Mi lehet az értelme az alkotmányos identitás alkotmányjogi fogalmának? [On Constitutional Identity. What can be the meaning of the concept of constitutional identity in constitutional law?] MTA Law Working Papers, 2016/15. Online: https://jog.tk.mta.hu/uploads/files/2016_15_Drinoczi.pdf

Faraguna, P. (2017). Constitutional Identity in the EU – A Shield or a Sword? German Law Journal, 18(7), 1617–1640. https://doi.org/10.1017/S207183220002246X

Geertz, C. (1973). Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture. In The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays (pp. 3 –30). Basic Books.

Gera, A., & Szentgáli-Tóth, B. A. (2022). The parliamentary margin of movement for strengthening the role of historical dimensions in interpretation and law-making: The case of Hungary. Hungarian Journal of Legal Studies, 63(4), 329–351. https://doi.org/10.1556/2052.2023.00408

Halmai, G. (2018, June 29). Fidesz and Faith: Ethno-Nationalism in Hungary. VerfassungsBlog. https://doi.org/10.17176/20180629-091745-0

Hart, H. L. A. (1994). The Concept of Law (2nd ed.). Clarendon Press.

Hörcher, F. (2011). The National Avowal. Politeja, 17, 19–38. Online: http://www.jstor.org/stable/24919548

Foreign Office. (1958). British and Foreign State Papers, 155 (1949), pt. 3. 658–671.

Jackson, B. S. (1985). Semiotics and Legal Theory. Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Jackson, B. S. (1996). Making Sense in Jurisprudence. Deborah Charles.

Kelsen, H. (1926). Grundriß einer allgemeinen Theorie des Staates. Rohrer.

Könczöl, M. (2009). What There is Left and How It Works: Ancient Rhetoric and the Semiotics of Law. International Journal for the Semiotics of Law, 22, 399–410. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11196-009-9117-5

Könczöl, M. (2017). Dealing with the Past in and around the Fundamental Law of Hungary. In U. Belavusau, & A. Gliszczyńska-Grabias (Eds.), Law and Memory: Towards Legal Governance of History (pp. 246–262). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316986172.013

Könczöl, M., & Kevevári, I. (2020). History and Interpretation in the Fundamental Law of Hungary. European Papers, 5(1), 161–174. https://doi.org/10.15166/2499-8249/388

Körtvélyesi, Zs. (2012). From ‘We the People’ to ‘We the Nation’. In Tóth G. A. (Ed.), Constitution for a Disunited Nation: On Hungary’s New Fundamental Law (pp. 111–140). Central European University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9786155225574-008

Pap, L. A. (2014). Ki és mi a magyar? Az Alaptörvény preferenciái kritikai perspektívából [Who and what is Hungarian? The preferences of the Fundamental Law from a critical perspective]. In Gárdos-Orosz F., & Szente Z. (Eds.), Alkotmányozás és alkotmányjogi változások Európában és Magyarországon (pp. 251–270). Nemzeti Közszolgálati Egyetem Közigazgatás-tudományi Kar.

Schanda, B. (2008). A házasság intézményének védelme a magyar alkotmányjogban [Protection of the institution of marriage in Hungarian constitutional law]. Iustum Aequum Salutare, 4(3), 65–73. Online: https://www.ias.jak.ppke.hu/20083sz/06.pdf

Schanda, B. (2018). Magyaroroszág keresztény kultúrájáról [On the Christian culture of Hungary]. Pázmány Law Working Papers, 2018/8. Online: https://www.plwp.eu/files/2018/PLWP_2018-08_Schanda.pdf

Schmitt, C. (1963). Der Begriff des Politischen: Text von 1932 mit einem Vorwort und drei Corollarien [The Concept of the Political: The 1932 Text with a Preface and Three Corollaries]. Duncker und Humblot.

Schweitzer, G. (2017). Alaptörvény – sarkalatos törvény – történeti alkotmány [Fundamental Law – cardinal law – historical constitution]. In A magyar királyi köztársaságtól a Magyar Köztársaságig – Közjog- és tudománytörténeti tanulmányok (pp. 143–152). Publikon.

Smuk, P. (2015). The Concept of the Nation in the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Politeja, 12(8)(31/2), 93–110. https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.12.2015.31_2.07

Sólyom, L., & Brunner, G. (2000). Constitutional Judiciary in a New Democracy: The Hungarian Constitutional Court. The University of Michigan Press.

Stein, E. (1925). Eine Untersuchung über den Staat. Jahrbuch für Philosophie und phänomenologische Forschung, 7, 1–123.