Brave New Hungary

Edited by János Matyas Kovács and Balazs Trencsenyi - Contributions by Gábor Egry; Zsolt Enyedi; Gábor Halmai; Miklós Haraszti; Stephen Holmes; János Köllo; János Matyas Kovács; Ferenc Laczó; Bálint Magyar; Radoslaw Markowski; Silvia Marton; Attila Melegh

Brave New Hungary focuses on the rise of a "brave new" anti-liberal regime led by Viktor Orbán who made a decisive contribution to the transformation of a poorly managed liberal democracy to a well-organized authoritarian rule bordering on autocracy during the past decade. Emerging capitalism in post-1989 Hungary that once took pride in winning the Eastern European race for catching up with the West has evolved into a reclusive, statist, national-populist system reminding the observers of its communist and pre-communist predecessors. Going beyond the self-description of the Orbán regime that emphasizes its Christian-conservative and illiberal nature, the authors, leading experts of Hungarian politics, history, society, and economy, suggest new ways to comprehend the sharp decline of the rule of law in an EU member state. Their case studies cover crucial fields of the new authoritarian power, ranging from its historical roots and constitutional properties to media and social policies. The volume presents the Hungarian "System of National Cooperation" as a pervasive but in many respects improvised and vulnerable experiment in social engineering, rather than a set of mature and irreversible institutions. The originality of this dystopian "new world" does not stem from the transition to authoritarian control per se but its plurality of meanings. It can be seen as a simulacrum that shows different images to different viewers and perpetuates itself by its post-truth variability. Rather than pathologizing the current Hungarian regime as a result of a unique master plan designed by a cynical political entrepreneur, the authors show the transnational dynamic of backsliding - a warning for other countries that suffer from comparable deadlocks of liberal democracy.

Introduction: Historicizing an Anti-Liberal TurnJános Mátyás Kovács and Balázs TrencsényiChapter 1: Reinventing Hungary with Revolutionary Fervor: The Declaration of National Cooperation as a Readers' Guide to the Fundamental Law of 2011Chapter 2: Totalitarianism without Perpetrators? Politics of History in the "System of National Cooperation"Chapter 3: Civil Society in an Illiberal Democracy: Government-Friendly NGOs, "Foreign Agents," and Uncivil PublicsChapter 4: Beyond Electioneering: Minority Hungarians and the Vision of National UnificationChapter 5: The Role of Religion in the Illiberal Hungarian Constitutional SystemChapter 6: The Right Hand Thinks: On the Sources of György Matolcsy's Economic VisionChapter 7: Towards a "Work-Based Society"?Chapter 8: The Fear of Population ReplacementChapter 9: Votes, Ideology, and Self-Enrichment. The Campaign of Re-nationalization After 2010Chapter 10: Viktor Orbán's Propaganda StateChapter 11: Ideology or Pragmatism? Interpreting Social Policy Change under the System of National CooperationChapter 12: The Central European University in the TrenchesChapter13: The Post-communist Mafia State As a Criminal StateChapter 14: Democracy for Losers. Comment on Bálint MagyarChapter 15: Nothing But a Mafia State?Chapter 17: Supply Side Revolution: The Consequences of the 2015 Polish electionsChapter 18: Regime, Parties, and Patronage in Contemporary RomaniaConclusion: Hungary-Brave and New? Dissecting a Realistic Dystopia