—Rosalind Dixon, University of New South Wales Last month, the Hungarian Parliament elected the country’s first ever female president, Katalin Novák.[1] Novák is a former minister for family policy and close ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. She is also young, telegenic, and happy to talk about her role as a wife and mother. For
How COVID-19 Unveils the True Autocrats: Viktor Orbán’s Ermächtigungsgesetz
—Gábor Halmai, European University Institute At a conference held at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in London on 20-21 May 1967, Isaiah Berlin used the term ‘false’ populism, defining it as “the employment of populist ideas for the ends other than those which the populist desired. That is to say –
The Return of the Sovereign: A Look at the Rule of Law in Hungary – and in Europe
—Renata Uitz, Central European University [Cross-posted from, and initially published on, Verfassungsblog] Spring arrived in Budapest with sunshine, magnolias in full bloom, hordes of stag partiers from the U.K. – and a sovereign ready to fight against foreign invaders by legal means. After a lengthy media and political campaign against migrants, foreign influence and George
The Internet Tax Debate: Genuine Freedom of Assembly vs. the Illusion of Direct Democracy in Hungary
—Zoltán Pozsár-Szentmiklósy, ELTE University, Budapest On October 21, 2014, Hungarian government officials announced that in the 2015 state budget they would include a tax on internet data transfer. This so-called internet tax was widely criticized in the media and in civil society. A rapidly growing protest movement was organized on Facebook and a demonstration took
