Megjelent Dr. Kelemen László legújabb angol nyelvű műve

Az Empirical Analysis - Of Hungarian Social Opinion című munka megvásárolható az iBook Store-ból.

This book belongs equally to the fields of law and psychology. Balancing on the border of two branches of science inevitably results in a duality which determines the strengths and weakness of a scientific enterprise. Investigating an issue from many aspects might lead to new discoveries and theories or possibly worthless generalizations as well.

The objective of the research was to reveal how well-informed Hungarian society is concerning the law. The study was carried out along pre-determined guidelines since the author wanted to explore opinions about the law, legal institutions and their representatives at both intellectual and emotional levels.

This study compares the views of one hundred and fifty first-year, and one hundred fifth-year law students concerning the legal domain (“How do Students of Law Think About Law?”). The author assumed that due to their continuing legal education, the views of these groups would significantly differ. Despite their common university background, the two subsamples had different features.

The majority of the lawyers belong to the elite class in contemporary Hungarian society. Their financial status is far more favorable than the average. Since the end of the communist regime, and, in contrast to other social groups, they have always been afforded more possibilities. Responses of the national representative sample also reveal that the living standard of an individual is not only worse in terms of the objective variables (per capita household income), but participants in this sample experience this situation in a subjective way too. The position from which they perceive public life and social events is greatly determined by the general depression they feel as a result of deprivation. The ways in which they think is intertwined with skepticism and suspicion.

The most popular political parties are FIDESZ, JOBBIK, and MSZP. FIDESZ is over-represented among lawyers, while JOBBIK and MSZP are under-represented. With reference to both samples, it can be established that the most rejected party is MSZP, although lawyers strongly disagree with the JOBBIK platform.

Compared to the ways in which the average member of society thinks, lawyers proved to be more liberal. Responses given to the statements regarding the reinstatement of the death penalty, the legalization of soft drugs, or the prohibition of abortion support this argument.