Project
Life in a Dying Democracy
Hungary's democracy is on the brink of total collapse. How could this happen in an advanced European...
Hungary seems to be a thriving European democracy. But go beneath the surface, and you find that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has quietly built a new, and very modern, kind of authoritarian state. This soft fascism maintains a democratic veneer, while subtly consolidating power in the government's hands, undermining the fairness of elections, and destroying anyone who stands in its way.
And it's not hard to imagine this model being exported to other countries. All it requires is a ruling political party that cares less about democracy than about maintaining power, and a voting base willing to back the party even as it makes authoritarian rules.
