No Worries for Fidesz After All These Years? Domestic and International Opposition to Governing Populists in Hungary

This chapter presents the results of a study on opposition to Fidesz, which has governed in Hungary uninterrupted since 2010. The study applied a form of protest event analysis using data sampled from two Hungarian daily newspapers to examine opposition by Hungarian and international public authorities, political parties, and civil society actors to the Fidesz government. The chapter shows that despite widespread mobilization around themes of democratic defence by Hungarian and international political actors, opposition initiatives almost exclusively used tolerant or ‘normal’ modes of engagement, understood as the observation of rights, privileges, and respect which political parties in a liberal democracy would usually enjoy. Opposition by public authorities was constrained by the politicization of key state institutions by the governing party, which led to an increase in initiatives by international organizations such as the EU and other states. Political parties pursued a wide variety of initiatives in and outside of parliament but were hampered by fragmentation. Similarly, civil society actively opposed many Fidesz government initiatives, but was hampered by a ‘shrinking civic space’. The limited impact of this opposition in reversing democratic backsliding can be explained by Fidesz’s exceptionally strong electoral mandate, and its refusal to engage in dialogue with weaker political and social partners.