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István Szabó
The interwar political system in Hungary is best understood via the rules related to suffrage. One-party rule is a political system where the methods of democratic ruling are totally excluded. In such a system suffrage doesn't bear any particular importance, the single party confidently wins the elections regardless to suffrage model applied. The manipulation of suffrage therefore presupposes the existence of opposition parties, where manipulation as a means is aiming to prevent the change of government. Interwar Hungary fell into this latter category with three major methods of manipulation: the restriction of the circle of enfranchised constituents, open suffrage, as well as the arbitrary mix of proportional and majoritarian systems. The present study sets out to cover this latter topic. The political forces coming to power in 1920 were stronger in the country, weaker in urban areas. Suffrage was regulated in such a way that a majoritarian system was applicable in the country, whereas a proportional one in the urban areas. This resulted in a constantly advantageous distribution of seats for the forces in power, compared to the situation in which a uniform system of suffrage rules would have been applicable.
