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The Fidesz party, led by Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, represents one of the examples of a competitive authoritarian regime. While Orban imitates democracy by using democratic institutions, he adopts a management style that violates basic democratic values.
The Fidesz party maintained its power with changing policies and alliances, but Orban's administration was criticized for authoritarianism, violations of press freedom and anti-immigrant policies. It has managed to impress its own electorate with economic stability and some domestic policy choices.
In today's world, the diversity of political regimes is quite wide. While different forms of government such as democracy, totalitarianism and monarchy manifest themselves in a unique way in each country, "competitive authoritarian regimes" have emerged in recent years. or in other words "hybrid regimes" The rise of a species called 'is noteworthy'. These regimes are political systems that, although having authoritarian characteristics, attempt to emulate some form of democracy by using democratic institutions such as elections. The main characteristics of hybrid regimes are that they ignore democratic values such as media independence and judicial independence and manipulate these institutions for their own interests. One of the most prominent examples of hybrid regimes is the rule of Viktor Orban in Hungary. What made Orban interesting was his transformation of the regime under the European Union. The changes taking place in the country under Orban's leadership have led to new and complex discussions in the international academic world. In this article, we will discuss the Hungarian example.
Competitive Authoritarianism
With the collapse of the Soviet system and the end of the Cold War, Francis Fukuyama's "end of history" came to light. thesis and the idea of the victory of liberal democracies became widespread. Many closed or hegemonic authoritarian governments felt forced to withdraw from the political scene under the influence of this change or came under pressure to reform their forms of government and institutions. During this period, multi-party systems and elections came to the fore in many countries. It was seen that democratization efforts reached their peak in the post-Cold War period. During this period, the assumption prevailed among experts that democracy was now the only solution, and this became a period in which competitive authoritarian regimes emerged. This was a period in which democratic institutions mixed with authoritarian rule, and authoritarian stabilities were maintained or competitive authoritarian regimes emerged, open to uncertain outcomes.
Authoritarian regimes differ in each country, but their most basic common features are the existence of semblance of democracy and the limited possibility of the opposition gaining power. Electoral systems are generally ill-suited to producing fair results. Authoritarian governments tend to place their supporters in state institutions, especially the judiciary. They practice crony capitalism and systematically violate civil rights. They do not recognize the right to life of non-governmental organizations. Authoritarian regimes are often based on fear and repression. This fear not only increases the pressure of government officials on society, but also creates a threat to the "enemy". It is used to scare the society through its rhetoric. In this context, scare tactics are used with issues such as internal enemy, external enemy, terrorism, war, security, health and economy. In other words, these regimes intimidate the society through many different channels into accepting it as their security and continuity, and they force the people to obey without questioning.
Electoral Successes of the Fidesz Party
The Fidesz party was founded in 1998 by a group including its members. When it was first established, the party was an anti-communist and liberal formation. He succeeded in entering the parliament in the first election held in 1990 after the collapse of Communism in Hungary. In 1998, they reached 148 seats and continued as the largest member of the Coalition government under the chairmanship of Victor Orban until 2002. Hungary was ruled by a socialist government for about 8 years. With the 2008 global financial crisis, it reached slightly more than two-thirds of the parliamentary seats in the 2010 elections. Orban continues his duty as prime minister by showing the same success in the 2014, 2018 and 2022 elections.
Victor Orban
Viktor Orban, who received a law degree from the University of Budapest in 1987, soon received a scholarship at the Central and Eastern Europe research group funded by Soros. In 1989, he went to England with a scholarship from the Soros Foundation and studied political philosophy at Oxford University. In June, Orbán gained wide recognition with the speech he gave at the grave of former Prime Minister Imre Nagy, one of the leaders of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. In this speech, he demanded free elections and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary.
Orbán, who was elected as a member of parliament in the first elections held in 1990 after the withdrawal of Soviet forces, became the leader of Fidesz in 1993. The party had won only a few seats in the 1990 parliamentary elections, and its representation diminished further as it suffered further losses in the 1994 elections. To attract more voters, Orbán moved his party towards the centre-right, forming alliances with groups on the right. In the 1998 elections, Fidesz and its allies won the most parliamentary seats; Fidesz then formed a coalition government with two other parties and Orbán became Prime Minister. Orban's first government accelerated the country's transition to a free market economy by collaborating with young ministers. Under Orban, Hungary gained NATO membership and improved its relations with the Western world.
However, Orbán, who was defeated in the 2002 Hungarian general elections, had to leave his post as prime minister. He returned to head Fidesz in 2003, but was defeated again in the 2006 elections and public pressure increased for his resignation. An important turning point in Orban's political career was the revelation that the ruling party had provided misleading information about the country's economy during the election campaign. Orban initially supported the country's protests, but remained distant when the protests turned violent.
The global financial crisis that started in 2008 caused difficulties in the Hungarian economy, and Orbán's second term began with the 2010 elections. In his second term, Orbán had a large majority in the parliament and made changes to the constitution and many laws. Among these changes, the constitutional amendment that included moral and religious themes led to significant criticism. Another issue that caused serious criticism and protests inside and outside the country was freedom of the press. Orbán's government was forced to withdraw a proposed media law that would have given direct control over the media, largely in response to foreign criticism.
By 2013, austerity policies were continuing at a slow pace. The Orbán government has restored some public welfare by imposing a crisis tax on the financial sector and other designated sectors. With the influence of these policies, Orbán achieved a great victory in the 2014 elections and remained in power for another term. Despite the opposition's claims that the economy is worsening and poverty is increasing, Orbán's government has received strong support. However, during this period, the government was subject to criticism regarding corruption and authoritarianism. Allegations emerged that he did not respect press freedom and put pressure on the press. The government also put pressure on civil society by carrying out inspections of non-governmental organizations. Orbán stated that he sees non-governmental organizations financed from abroad as agents of foreign powers.
Viktor Orban stated in a speech that a society based on work may be incompatible with liberal values, and cited countries such as Russia and China as examples of this view. These words prompted the opposition to think about the future and received great reaction from the Western press. Orban is also known as one of the leaders who follow the harshest policies in the world with his immigration policies. In 2015, Orban's government built a barbed wire fence on the border with Serbia in an attempt to stop immigrants and refugees from the Middle East and Africa from entering Hungary. When this fence was completed in September 2015, Orban dismissed the migrant crisis as a "German problem". He opposed calls for mandatory quotas among European Union (EU) countries. Orban's nationalism and anti-immigrant rhetoric escalated further during the Hungarian parliamentary election campaign in 2018. He showed himself as the protector not only of Hungary but also of Christian Europe. This was ironic, considering the fact that the wall on the country's southern border almost completely blocked the entry of immigrants and refugees into Hungary. Additionally, Orbán accused the opposition, his former sponsor Soros, the EU and the United Nations of turning Hungary into a country of immigrants. Fidesz and Orbán tried to create xenophobic fear by using media dominance. Opposition parties have tried hard to identify and support Fidesz rivals, but have failed to present a coherent message. Orbán and Fidesz also benefited from the popularity of a stable economy and generous tax breaks for young families with many children.
In the 2019 elections, the opposition began to believe that they could defeat Orban, whom they described as authoritarian, in the 2023 elections. However, the election was not held in a fair environment because it was held against a government that held state power. The 70% turnout rate, which is high by European standards, gave the opposition hope, but Orban won the ballot box successfully. It may be insufficient to attribute Orban's victory only to his possession of state power, because a similar situation occurred in Brazil and Lula won against Bolsonaro, who held state power. One of Orban's most important achievements is ensuring stability in the economy and convincing his voters with his immigration policies.
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