How to Rebuild Hungarian Democracy |
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Incoming Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar will inherit something unprecedented in modern European history: a constitutional supermajority and a mandate to dismantle a competitive authoritarian system 16 years in the making. The scale of Magyar’s electoral victory—winning 141 of 199 parliamentary seats with a 79.5 percent turnout—was extraordinary. But elections are the opening act of democratic transitions, not their conclusion. The question that will define Hungary’s next parliamentary term, and resonate far beyond its borders, is one political scientists have barely begun to answer: How do you rebuild a democracy from within the ruins of one hollowed out by design?
The scale of illiberal inheritance is vast. Outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orban rebuilt the state around a single party, entrenching Fidesz’s power by replacing the country’s 1949 constitution with the 2011 Fundamental Law. The judiciary was systematically captured through packed courts and an untouchable prosecutor general. Public media became a state-controlled propaganda apparatus, reinforced by the surveillance of journalists, civil servants, and opposition figures. Civil society faced Russian-style legal constraints and regulatory harassment, while the Central European University was forced to relocate to Vienna. State contracts were funneled to regime-allied oligarchs, and the bureaucracy, diplomatic corps, and intelligence services were hollowed out through purges of career professionals and the installation of party loyalists.
Incoming Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar will inherit something unprecedented in modern European history: a constitutional supermajority and a mandate to dismantle a competitive authoritarian system 16 years in the making. The scale of Magyar’s electoral victory—winning 141 of 199 parliamentary seats with a 79.5 percent turnout—was extraordinary. But elections are the opening act of democratic transitions, not their conclusion. The question that will define Hungary’s next parliamentary term, and resonate far beyond its borders, is one political scientists have barely begun to answer: How do you rebuild a democracy from within the ruins of one hollowed out by design?
The scale of illiberal inheritance is vast. Outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orban rebuilt the state around a single party, entrenching Fidesz’s power by replacing the country’s 1949 constitution with the 2011 Fundamental Law. The judiciary was systematically captured through packed courts and an untouchable prosecutor general. Public media became a state-controlled propaganda apparatus, reinforced by the surveillance of journalists, civil servants, and opposition figures. Civil society faced Russian-style legal constraints and regulatory harassment, while the Central European University was forced to relocate to Vienna. State contracts were funneled to regime-allied oligarchs, and the bureaucracy, diplomatic corps, and intelligence services were hollowed out through purges of career professionals and the installation of party........