Hybrid regimes under external control
On the nature of Hungarian politics
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Hungary’s political system is neither a democracy nor a dictatorship. It is instead a specific hybrid regime. The government under Viktor Orbán has largely put paid to the separation of powers that characterised the liberal constitutional state. However, to date, the basic rights of Hungarian citizens have remained intact. This is due to Hungary’s membership of the European Union and its seat on the Council of Europe. However, the role of the EU is ambivalent. Its legal system is designed to prevent the establishment of an authoritarian system. At the same time, EU funds are helping to stabilise the regime in Budapest. Since the EU is regarded as an associa-tion of democratic states, Orbán is also using Hungary’s membership of the EU to legitimise his regime.
(Osteuropa 3-5/2018, pp. 149–169)