Hungary

In Hungary, FIDESZ-KDNP has been ruling the country with a two-thirds constitutional majority since 2010, now for 15 years. Under Orbán’s regime, there is a particular focus on the country’s media landscape and the crisis of its credibility. It is no exaggeration to state that the public media is effectively under political control and has lost its legitimacy.

Despite the increasing international prominence of mayors and municipal networks, local governments across Europe face numerous challenges. In the UK, local councils lack the resources to fulfill their extensive responsibilities, while in France, attempts at decentralization have been hindered by a lack of clarity over the distribution of responsibilities and a relatively high degree of central government interference.

Over the past decades, political poster culture in Hungary has undergone a radical transformation, reflecting a broader erosion of democratic norms and a decline in civil discourse. Formerly a medium of political creativity and pluralistic expression, public spaces in Hungary have increasingly become a battleground for government propaganda, dominated by crude, repetitive imagery and simplistic, emotive slogans.

In February 2024, Hungarian public life, previously marked by apathy, underwent a dramatic shift. A political scandal that reached the highest levels of government awakened Hungarian society. This rapid change reshaped Hungary\'s political landscape within a few months and significantly shifted voter preferences. The party system was not spared from this rapid transformation either, and it can be clearly illustrated through Sartori’s party typology.

Hungary is a beautiful country: homogeneous, democratic, united, and Christian. These facts are so obviously true that I do not even have to provide sources. My country also has an excellent educational system, which teaches journalists working in the booming and free media sector that sarcasm is not a good linguistic tool to use in an article. Why should I do otherwise?

Employment policy has been crucial to the success of Fidesz, Hungary\'s governing party since 2010. Their so-called \'work-based society\', which has led to skyrocketing employment rates, combined with a lack of political alternatives, has made poor, geographically isolated, ethnically diverse regions much more likely to vote for Fidesz.

Compromise has always been important in politics. Coalition governments or parties, when trying to draft new legislation, often give up some of their values to achieve their most important goals and to work together. Parties also cooperate when they choose the best candidate in a primary election like Hungarian opposition parties did in 2026.

If you have lived in Hungary in the last 10 years, you sure have gotten used to living with the constant presence of fear by now. We are afraid of Soros, afraid of the Brussels bureaucrats threatening our sovereignty, afraid of the \"pro-war liberals\" and most importantly, we are afraid of \"migrants\". There were several enemies introduced to the Hungarian population by the governing Fidesz-KDNP party alliance, including \"migrants\".

The political processes of the past decades in Hungary have raised several questions about the role of populism, enemy formation, and political identity construction. Fidesz\'s political strategy under Viktor Orbán is a prominent example of how populism, used as a power tool, can change democratic norms while stabilizing political power.

If people are inclined to believe in things not supported by evidence, they are more likely to be susceptible to the lies of politicians. Disinformation, such as the spread of conspiracy theories to spread distrust among citizens, is a tool widely and effectively used by Russia and China. It is not just conspiracy theories, however, which are plaguing humankind, but a return of an unscientific way of thinking which enlightenment hoped to eradicate.