Hungary’s “constitutional revolution” presents the most significant case of democratic backsliding in the European Union to date. The illiberal constitution, introduced by the Orbán government and protected by a host of new appointees, undermines the independence of various political institutions and guarantees virtually unlimited powers for the ruling party. But it also challenges the core values of the European Union, while underscoring significant limitations of supranational community in regulating the more troublesome behavior of its member states. In this article, the authors identify the key weaknesses of the main domestic and international actors in resisting Orbán’s constitutional revolution and highlight some promising developments within Hungarian civil society, which deserve direct and indirect support from the international community.
About the Authors
Erin K. Jenne
Erin K. Jenne is associate professor in the International Relations and European Studies Department at Central European University in Budapest. She is the author of Ethnic Bargaining: The Paradox of Minority Empowerment (2007).
Cas Mudde is the Stanley Wade Shelton UGAF Professor of International Affairs at the School of Public and International Affairs of the University of Georgia and Professor II at the Center for Research on Extremism of the University of Oslo. His most recent books include Populism: A Very Short Introduction (with Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser, 2017) and The Far Right Today (2019). He is also a columnist for the GuardianUS.
The historical record since 1945 gives us a picture of how populists operate once they hold political power. The record shows that populism is inimical to liberal democracy, and not…