national populism and slovak – hungarian relations in - MEK

National Populism and Electoral Behaviourexpulsed after Hungary regained the territory in 1938. Most of themreturned after reconstitution of Czechoslovakia in 1945, further strengtheningthe micro-regions Slovak ethnic character. But despite overall stabilityand relatively solid socio-economic situation of this region (compared toother regions), local Slovaks still seem to seek protection from some imaginarydanger and tend to vote for strong political leaders (e.g. Meèiar orFico) who they believe are able to provide this protection.In order to corroborate this hypothesis, we intend to examine two morevillages, namely Dulovce in the Komárno district and Kura¾any in the Levicedistrict. Although both villages lie south of the micro-region in question, theirSlovak character was formed in the same historical period, i.e. following theexpulsion of the Ottomans at the turn of the 17 th and the 18 th century. Bothvillages are surrounded by villages dominated by ethnic Hungarians and in thissense they form true ethnic enclaves. As Table 8 shows, their inhabitants’ electoralbehaviour is almost identical to that of inhabitants of the cluster ofSlovak-dominated villages to the north of Nové Zámky.Table 8Voting patterns in Slovak enclaves of Komárno and Levice districts (%) Note: *Here, the recently established HZD of Ivan Gašparoviè and the KSS received another10% of the popular vote combined.Source: Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic; author’s own calculations.National Populism and Slovak – Hungarian Relations in Slovakia 2006 – 2009. Forum Minority Research Institute Šamorín – Somorja, 2009131