Return of history?
Orbán & Horthy: a comparison of two regimes
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
The political order established by Viktor Orbán bears traits of that of the Horthy regime. As was the case in the inter-war years, Orbán’s party manipulated the electoral system in order to gain power. As it did then, the ruling party claims to represent the entire nation. Fidesz under party leader Orbán is even more powerful than the governing party during the 1920s and 1930s. However, during the Horthy era, society was much stronger. Today, the political and economic elite of Hungary is almost entirely dependent on the state and therefore also on the government. Under these conditions, democratic institutions are nothing more than a backdrop designed to legitimise the government’s compliant ‘system of national cooperation’.
(Osteuropa 3-5/2018, pp. 351–368)