His research areas are political change, political systems, Central European politics, political ideologies, the history of ideas and the political role of the intelligentsia.[2][3]
Life
He studied at Eötvös Loránd University and obtained a Doctor Juris in law in 1983 and a Master of Arts in sociology in 1985. After graduation, he got a teaching position at the university, where he taught at the Department of Sociology and Law (since 2013 named as Department of Legal and Social Theory). In 1988–1989, he was a fellow at UCLA's Department of Sociology.[1]
In 1985, he participated in the opposition event of the European Cultural Forum. In 1987 he was at the anti-communist Lakitelek meeting, where the opposition Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF) was established. In May 1988 he was the founder of the Free Initiatives Network, a predecessor organization of the Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ). Between 1988 and 1993 he was a member of Fidesz. In 1989, he participated in the National Round Table negotiations, where he represented Fidesz and was a member of the working committee dealing with the creation of legal guarantees excluding violent solutions. From January to May 1990, he was the spokesperson of Fidesz. In 1991–1992 he was an expert of the party's parliamentary faction. Between 1989 and 1992 he worked as the founding editor of newspaper Magyar Narancs.[4] In 1993 he left Fidesz.[4]
In the 2000s, he was a columnist for Magyar Hírlap and then Figyelő.[4] Between 2003 and 2004, he was a member of the advisory board of Prime Minister Péter Medgyessy. From February 2005 to June 2006, he was Minister of Culture in the first Ferenc Gyurcsány government.[4]
Post-Communist Transition: Emerging Pluralism in Hungary London: Pinter, New York: St. Martin's Press (társszerző és társszerk.) 1992. Bloomsbury Academic, 2016
Democratic Legitimacy in Post-Communist Societies. Budapest – Tübingen: T-Twins, (szerk.), 1994
Lawful Revolution in Hungary. Boulder, Colorado: Social Science Monographs, (társszerk.), 1995
Intellectuals and Politics in Central Europe. Budapest – New York: CEU Press, (szerk.), 1999
The Roundtable Talks of 1989: The Genesis of Hungarian Democracy. Budapest – New York: CEU Press (szerk.), 2002
The Communist Successor Parties of Central and Eastern Europe. New York – London: M. E. Sharpe, (társszerk.), 2002, Re-published by Routledge
The Future of Democracy in Europe: Trends, Analyses and Reforms. Luxembourg: Council of Europe, (társszerző), 2004
Migrants, Minorities, Belonging and Citizenship. Bergen. BRIC, (társszerző), 2004
Anarchism in Hungary: Theory, History, Legacies. Boulder, Colorado: Social Science Monographs, (társszerző), 2006
Diversity and the European Public Sphere: The Case of Hungary. Bergen: BRIC (társszerző), 2010
25 Years after the Fall of Iron Curtain: The State of Integration of East and West in the European Union. Brussels: European Commission, (társszerző), 2014
Rolling Transition and the Role of Intellectuals: The Case of Hungary. Budapest - New York: CEU Press, 2022
Töréspontok: Tanulmányok az autokrácia kialakulásáról. Budapest: Gondolat, 2024
Embedded Autocracy: Hungary in the European Union. (co-author) Lanham - London - New York: Lexington Books, 2024