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Cited by 304Populism, Right-Wing MovementsPolitical Theory and DemocracyCentral European and Russian historical studies

The Illiberal Turn or Swerve in Central Europe?

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Bustikova, Lenka, Guasti, Petra·2017·Politics and Governance
DOI 10.17645/pag.v5i4.1156
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Abstract

Scholars are coming to terms with the fact that something is rotten in the new democracies of Central Europe. The corrosion has multiple symptoms: declining trust in democratic institutions, emboldened uncivil society, the rise of oligarchs and populists as political leaders, assaults on an independent judiciary, the colonization of public administration by political proxies, increased political control over media, civic apathy, nationalistic contestation and Russian meddling. These processes signal that the liberal-democratic project in the so-called Visegrad Four (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) has been either stalled, diverted or reversed. This article investigates the “illiberal turn” in the Visegrad Four (V4) countries. It develops an analytical distinction between illiberal “turns” and “swerves”, with the former representing more permanent political changes, and offers evidence that Hungary is the only country in the V4 at the brink of a decisive illiberal turn.

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Authors
Bustikova, L., & Guasti, P.
Affiliations
Goethe University Frankfurt (DE)
ORCID
Venue
Politics and Governance
Publisher
Cogitatio
Published
2017-12-29
Volume
5
Issue
4
Pages
166-176
ISSN
2183-2463 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.17645/pag.v5i4.1156
OpenAlex
W2778107667
Cited by
304
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 19 · 2025: 40 · 2024: 46 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 46 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 44 · 2019: 39 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 1
FWCI
122.34
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Politics and Governance (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Arizona State University Library Digital Repository (Arizona State University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • ASEP (submittedVersion, public-domain)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Social Science Open Access Repository (GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Publication Server of Goethe University Frankfurt am Main (Goethe University Frankfurt) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Arizona State University
  • Grantová Agentura České Republiky (GA16-04885S)
  • Center for the Study of Religion, Princeton University
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Populism, Right-Wing Movements
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Theory and Democracy
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Central European and Russian historical studies
Keywords
illiberal turn, Visegrad Group, democratic backsliding, illiberal democracy, Hungary, oligarchy, populism, civil society, judicial independence, media control, civic apathy, nationalism, Russian interference, trust in democratic institutions

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