#Backsliding

News

Was Hungary a Democracy All Along? – What Does the Hungarian Election Tell Us About the Nature and Prospects of Democracy in Europe?

Although Hungary has long been held up as an example of democratic backsliding, where a populist strongman eroded the rule of law, the fairness of elections, and sought to hold on to power indefinitely, on April 12, Orbán, accepted defeat, and the peaceful transition of power began. This has signalled to many that the charges of “soft” or “electoral” autocracy or hybrid regime levelled against Hungary in the past have been exaggerated. Indeed, shortly after the election, the Wall Street Journal’s published an op-ed arguing that democracy is well and alive in Hungary, after all.

19.05.2026

Book Reviews

Beyond Populism: Two ways of Rethinking the Contemporary Right

Recent scholarship on the contemporary right has generated an abundant vocabulary: populism, authoritarianism, illiberalism, democratic backsliding. These terms capture real features, but often only one dimension at a time. “Populism” can flatten ideology into style or anti-elite performance; “authoritarianism” and “backsliding” can describe institutional effects without saying much about the wider social energies and historical processes that sustain them. What often drops out is the question of the right’s deeper political form, its social bases, and its conditions of possibility.

12.05.2026

A Decade of Rule of Law Backsliding: Lessons Learnt for the Next EU Legislative Period

For more than a decade, the European Union (EU) has witnessed a decay of the rule of law in some of its Member States, especially Hungary and Poland. The deliberate and systematic deconstruction of the rule of law and other pillars of democracy was particularly severe in Hungary and Poland. This backsliding quickly became a European matter as the EU is not only an economic alliance with free movement of goods, services and people, but also a legal union of values. Therefore, for safeguarding the rule of law, the behavioral aspects are as important as the systemic ones. Research suggests that press freedom, robust civic space, public support for democracy, and the compliance with the law of elected officials and decision-makers are as significant as pillars of rule of law resilience as a comprehensive constitutional design, independent judiciary, and a public administration that is free from political influence and corruption.

11.06.2024