Post-Kadar Hungary: Three approaches to the challenge of political and economic adjustmen

In May of 1988, Hungary experienced the most radical political shift since the revolution of 1956. Janos Kadar, the ruling figure in the Communist Party for more than thirty years, was driven from office. This work is an attempt to address the problem of political and economic adjustment for post-Kadar, post-Communist Hungary. The first approach involves a discussion of the government response to such changing conditions. The second approach involves a discussion of pressures from various groups advocating free market reforms. The third approach involves a discussion of the Budapest School and its attempt to evaluate Eastern Europe and Hungary based on the history of the region. Each school presents both useful solutions and problematic suggestions for Hungary. This work attempts to separate that which can be helpful for the problem of Hungarian adjustment from that which might harm the delicate position of a nation attempting political and economic stability in the years immediately following the events of 1988.