Antiliberalism and Counter-Enlightenment for the 21st Century: Viktor Orbán's Illiberal Political Ideology

: Suuronen, Ville

Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)

: CAMBRIDGE

: 2025

Government and Opposition

: Government and Opposition

: GOV OPPOS

: 1

: 21

: 0017-257X

: 1477-7053

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/gov.2025.5

: https://doi.org/10.1017/gov.2025.5

: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/491561812

This article analyses the political speeches of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb & aacute;n between 2014 and 2023 by applying the 'ideational approach'. Questioning the description of Orb & aacute;n as a politician whose career represents nothing but opportunism and kleptocracy, the article argues that his politics are driven and underpinned by an illiberal political ideology. Examining how Orb & aacute;n conceptualizes illiberalism in the realms of (1) Hungarian domestic politics; (2) foreign and global politics; and (3) cultural politics (understood in the Gramscian sense as a battle for fundamental values), this article offers a systematic analysis of Hungarian illiberalism and of the interrelations of its main ideological components. The article also examines how and why Orb & aacute;n portrays himself not only as the authentic voice of the Hungarian people, but also simultaneously as the genuine representative of original Europeanness.

antiliberalism, counter-Enlightenment, illiberalism, Liberalism

antiliberalism-and-counter-enlightenment-for-the-21st-century-viktor-orbans-illiberal-political-ideology.pdf

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This article was funded by the Institute for Advanced Study (Tampere University, Finland) and by the Turku Institute for Advanced Studies (University of Turku, Finland).