Eurosceptic Populism in Hungary: Are Multidimensional EU Attitudes Enabling Democratic Backsliding?

In the last decade, several Eastern members of the European Union (EU) have regressed in their democratic quality. This ‘democratic backsliding’ has most notably occurred in Hungary where the populist government led by Viktor Orbán continues to infringe upon the liberal democratic values championed by the EU. As the Hungarian populist government employs a Eurosceptic narrative, its continued success in combination with the rather pro-EU population is puzzling. Applying a multidimensional framework of EU attitudes, this study conducts a quantitative analysis of public opinion to explain the aforementioned puzzle and gauge the impact Euroscepticism has on the continued success of populism. It is argued that the government uses the underlying dimensions of EU attitudes to varying extent to mobilise public support. The binary regression’s results show that popular EU attitudes are not a definitive predictor for populist support. Nonetheless, the findings illustrate that the continued...Show moreIn the last decade, several Eastern members of the European Union (EU) have regressed in their democratic quality. This ‘democratic backsliding’ has most notably occurred in Hungary where the populist government led by Viktor Orbán continues to infringe upon the liberal democratic values championed by the EU. As the Hungarian populist government employs a Eurosceptic narrative, its continued success in combination with the rather pro-EU population is puzzling. Applying a multidimensional framework of EU attitudes, this study conducts a quantitative analysis of public opinion to explain the aforementioned puzzle and gauge the impact Euroscepticism has on the continued success of populism. It is argued that the government uses the underlying dimensions of EU attitudes to varying extent to mobilise public support. The binary regression’s results show that popular EU attitudes are not a definitive predictor for populist support. Nonetheless, the findings illustrate that the continued success of the Hungarian government is attributable to nationalist sentiments in the unique post-communist context.Show less

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Eurosceptic Populism in Hungary: Are Multidimensional EU Attitudes Enabling Democratic Backsliding?