Illiberal Democracy

Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz were delivered to victory by an unfair system, media manipulation, and attacking their enemies. Opposition failure made it too easy for them.

Populism is malleable and isn’t the problem. The xenophobic nationalism that underpins certain populist movements is what threatens democracy.

The fight for democracy in Poland deserves European solidarity – but it should consist of more than commissioners pointing fingers from Brussels.

Andrea Pető, a historian and professor at Hungary’s Central European University, discusses the struggles of women’s rights activists and organisations in the context of illiberal governments, arguing that identifying the mechanisms which undermine or threaten to roll back social progress helps us to better understand these forces.