Authors

Martin Hochel¹;  ¹ Comenius University,

Discussion

Hungary, in line with most countries in Europe, has implemented extensive citizenship legislation and policies based on the ius sanguinis principle easing the conditions for its obtainment by ethnic Hungarians in the region. During the last decade, these policies have been followed by increasing involvement in the support of culture and regional development in regions inhabited by ethnic Hungarians including the southern part of Slovakia. However, such extensive approach has run contrary to the political support of ethnic Hungarian parties at the national level in parliamentary elections in Slovakia. Consequently, there have been no ethnic Hungarian parties in the Slovak parliament as the political identities of the ethnic minority have changed in light of increased involvement of their external homeland. Explored on the theoretical model of consociationalism in Slovakia, within the theory of plural societies, this paper forms the theoretical part of a doctoral study. Using multiple methods of process tracing of legislation in line with quantitative correlation analysis of ethnic Hungarian parties in Slovakia, the paper seeks to illustrate the distortions in the homogeneity of political identities of the ethnic Hungarian minority in Slovakia. The results make way for further field research and speak to the theoretical discourses of both citizenship in post-socialist region of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the outplay of conscociationalism in Slovakia.