Benjamin De Cleen: Viktor Orbán’s defeat was not a victory over populism but a populist victory
Orbán's defeat is celebrated by many as the victory of liberal democracy over populism - but this interpretation fundamentally misunderstands what really happened. Orbán’s defeat was not the defeat of illiberal populism but a victory of democratic populism against illiberalism.
Populism tends to have a negative ring in public discourse as synonym of authoritarianism and the right-wing. Populism, however, is not the sameas authoritarian politics. Populism is a political logic which, through the antagonism between the "people" and the "elite", is able to unite various social groups into a single coalition. Peter Magyar did exactly that: he crossed ideological boundaries and mobilized a broad Hungarian ‘people’ against the Fidesz elite.
The article shows that the success of Tisza was based on populist logic: building a broad coalition of people, crossing ideologies, against a narrow, corrupt elite. Orbán's defeat was not the defeat of populism, but instead a victory of democratic populism driven by the desire for democracy and the rule of law.
April 2026
Link: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2026/04/29/orban-magyar-tisza-party-hungary-populism/
Publisher: LSE Blogs - LSE European Politics