The Retreat of Liberal Democracy: Authoritarian Capitalism and the Accumulative State in Hungary (Challenges to Democracy in the 21st Century)

This book is the product of three years of empirical research, four years in politics, and a lifetime in a country experiencing three different regimes. Transcending disciplinary boundaries, it provides a fresh answer to a simple yet profound question: why has liberal democracy retreated? Scheiring argues that Hungary’s new hybrid authoritarian regime emerged as a political response to the tensions of globalisation. He demonstrates how Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz exploited the rising nationalism among the working-class casualties of deindustrialisation and the national bourgeoisie to consolidate illiberal hegemony. As the world faces a new wave of autocratisation, Hungary’s lessons become relevant across the globe, and this book represents a significant contribution to understanding challenges to democracy. This work will be useful to students and researchers across political sociology, political science, economy and social anthropology, as well democracy advocates. Keywords neo-nationalism socio-economics elites Hungarian politics Viktor Orbán Preface References Acknowledgements Contents Abbreviations List of Figures List of Tables 1: Introduction The Retreat of Liberal Democracy Democratic Backsliding in Hungary Alternative Explanations of Democratic Backsliding Political Rogues Anti-liberal Cultural Legacies The Failure of Liberalism to Deliver Dependent Capitalism Debates on the Nature of the New Regime in Hungary State Capture Developmental State The Aims of This Book References 2: The Political Economy of Illiberalism Globalisation and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century Class and Power Structure Analysis The Power Structure of the Competition State International Integration, Domestic Disintegration Workers and Neo-nationalism National Bourgeoisie and Economic Nationalism The Power Structure of the Accumulative State Research Methodology References 3: The Competition State Revolving Doors in Action 1969–1990 1990–1994 1994–1998 1998–2002 2002–2010 Policy Preferences of Transnational Capitalists References 4: International Integration, Domestic Disintegration The Dominance of Transnational Capital The Marginalisation of National Capital The Marginalisation of the Working Class Vestigial Welfare State Disillusionment with Dependent Capitalism The Collapse of the Hungarian Socialist Party References 5: Workers and Neo-nationalism Fieldwork Context Moral Memories of Socialism The Experience of Class Dislocation The Rise of Neo-nationalist Narratives References 6: National Bourgeoisie and Economic Nationalism Market Transition and the Business Class The Factions of the National Bourgeoisie Political Capitalists Committed Conservatives Emerging Capitalists Co-opted Capitalists References 7: The Accumulative State The Instruments of the Accumulative State Conflicts Within the Power Bloc Social Disintegration Economic Disintegration Institutional Authoritarianism and Authoritarian Populism References 8: Conclusions The Causal Narrative The Competition State and Simulated Liberal Democracy Dependent Development: International Integration, Domestic Disintegration The Countermovement of the Working Class The Countermovement of the National Bourgeoisie The Accumulative State Varieties of Authoritarian State Capitalism Insights for the Theory of Illiberalism References Index This book is the product of three years of empirical research, four years in politics, and a lifetime in a country experiencing three different regimes. Transcending disciplinary boundaries, it provides a fresh answer to a simple yet profound question: why has liberal democracy retreated? Scheiring argues that Hungary's new hybrid authoritarian regime emerged as a political response to the tensions of globalisation. He demonstrates how Viktor Orbán's Fidesz exploited the rising nationalism among the working-class casualties of deindustrialisation and the national bourgeoisie to consolidate illiberal hegemony. As the world faces a new wave of autocratisation, Hungary's lessons become relevant across the globe, and this book represents a significant contribution to understanding challenges to democracy. This work will be useful to students and researchers across political sociology, political science, economics and social anthropology, as well democracy advocates.