Logic of Hungarian Political Development (1990-2022) - by Ervin Csizmadia (Hardcover)

About the Book

Assuming a historico-political-science approach, the author argues that Orbánism can be understood not from Viktor Orbán himself but an analysis of the longer processes of Hungarian political development. Understanding is not acquiescence but a more complex interpretation tha...

Book Synopsis

Assuming a historico-political-science approach, the author argues that Orbánism can be understood not from Viktor Orbán himself but an analysis of the longer processes of Hungarian political development. Understanding is not acquiescence but a more complex interpretation than mainstream approaches afford.

Review Quotes

"Ervin Csizmadia offers a refreshing contribution to the literature on democratic regression. Without neglecting the global framework of the phenomenon, the author focuses on analysing the historical antecedents that made possible and even logical the reemergence of authoritarian rule in post-Cold War Hungary under Viktor Orbán. This book represents a comprehensive attempt to build a scholarly grounded post-liberal interpretation of Central European neo-authoritarianism."

"In the last decade, the question of the nature of Hungarian politics has attracted considerable international interest. This is primarily because its attempt to develop a so-called "illiberal democracy" is part of a major new international trend, and because it raises such questions of political theory that are not at all unique to Hungary. This work, focusing on the dilemmas of pattern formation and pattern following, on the nexus of the national and the international, offers a provocative and succinct assessment in a lucid style."

About the Author

Ervin Csizmadia has taught for over 30 years at various universities, including Eötvös Lóránd University, Budapest, and the University of Miskolc, and is also the director of a well-known Hungarian think tank, the Centre for Fair Political Analysis.