About us
Eötvös Károly Institute was created in January 2003 by the Soros Foundation in order to establish a novel, unconventional institutional framework for shaping democratic public affairs in Hungary. Among our recent activities, social researches must be strengthened, because any further steps towards our original aims need/require conceptual clarification and empirical understanding of the legal, social and cultural processes and structures. The human capacities and connections of the Institute make this turn possible, all of us have research experiences in the relevant fields. Our mission statement guide us to select those issues and problems which are eligible for deeper investigations. The final aim remains: to help the learning process of democracy and rule of law, to urge the democratic activities of society, to criticise those tendencies which jeopardize the development of free society and constitutional power. Past activities and enthusiasm of the Institute and its members give us enough ground to step into the research field with more energy.
Research areas
The list of research areas below provides information on the professional experiences of the Institute and its researchers, and signs the enthusiasm of the Institute to the values of democracy and the rule of law.
Democracy, rule of law, constitutionalism
History of the Hungarian rule of law: antecedents, transitions, dynamics of constitutional institutions
Constitutional culture in the making: the social, legal analysis of the democratic transition
Civic Strategies Against Governmental Populism and Hate Campaigns (2018)
Analyses on the Constitutional Changes in Hungary (2010 - 2013)
Constitutions and constitution-making processes: models and experiences
Justice, judicial independence
Social history of judicial independence, sociology of the judiciary, administration of justice
Judicial branch in the system of separation of powers: relations to the executive
Institutions of judicial self-governance
The quality of justice
Accountability and independence:
Research methodologies in the field of the administration of justice
Autonomies
Civic autonomies in Hungary: historical and sociological analysis
Professional autonomies, their functions in modern society
Education and democracy
Public schools and students’ rights, learning democracy
Academic freedom, university autonomy: Fight for university autonomy: what is the message of the resistance of SZFE citizens? - A constitutional analysis of the fight for autonomy of the University for Theatre and Film Arts Budapest (SZFE) (2020)
Democratic participation
FINEC: Promoting an Effective Anti-Corruption Framework in the Central and Eastern European Countries (2013 - 2015)
Political and civic engagements, voting rights and electoral systems
Special fundamental rights issues such as
Privacy and data protection
