Performing the nation: the Janus-faced populist foundations of illiberalism in Hungary

Abstract

Hungary once represented a schoolbook case of transition to democracy. Now it offers insights into both contemporary Europe and theories of populism and nationalism. Resisting the traditional linear perspective to transition and a 'demographic' view of democracy, this article explores the relationships among democracy, populism and nationalism. This article operationalises performative and post-foundational theory of populism as a logic of articulation to explain Fidesz and the party leader Viktor Orbán's illiberal measures, dichotomies between them and us, ultimately leading to nationalism and xenophobia. It shows how revolution, 'illiberalism' and migrants have served for populist meaning-making and are related to the political polarisation in Hungary. This article enhances the understanding of democracy by discussing the performative features of nation-building, populism and law-making in contemporary politics and finally the 'Janus-face' of populism. It sees 1989 as a populist moment of constitution of the foundations of a new era but also of the people central to democracy, and recognises attempts to generate similar moments in the 2010s.

Caesarean politics in Hungary and Poland

“…All constitutional changes in Hungary were justified using a populist discourse of friends and enemies of the nation that allowed Orbán to define the "enemy" as the liberals and the 1990-born system of liberal democracy (Pappas 2014), while the nation was rearticulated as the sole basis of legitimate politics (Palonen 2018). Orbán's populism is thus strategic politics of authority creation and elite transformation (Urbinati 2014), the constitutional changes weakening former power holders, promoting adversarial politics and favouring majoritarian norms at the expense of minorities, similarly to what Pappas (2014) described as "populist democracy".…”

Conceptualizing the Theoretical Category of Neo-militant Democracy: The Case of Hungary

“…The empirical part of the paper is pragmatic and solves the research problems of what the dynamics of the Hungarian political regime in terms of the neo-militant democracy principle was, and what factors shaped it. The analysis draws upon the assumption that the regime was becoming neo-militant democracy (Palonen, 2018). Neo-militant democracy is a democratic system that legally restricts individual democratic freedoms to protect itself from the threat of being changed by legal means.…”

Populismin muoto, diskursiivisuus ja retoriikka

“…Monet oikeistopopulistisiksi määritellyt liikkeet eivät tällä logiikalla olekaan populistisia vaan rasistisia, muukalaisvihamielisiä tai essentialistisen kansallismielisiä. Toki niillä voi olla januskasvoinen logiikka kansaa performoidessaan (Palonen 2018;Canovan 2005). Sen sijaan me-samaistumisen luomista esiintyy muuallakin kuin niin kutsutuissa populistipuolueissa.…”