Orbán – Takis S Pappas

March 27, 2022March 27, 2022

Europe’s most recent great drama and its protagonists

Originally published in Greek by Kathimerini, 27 March 2022.

Until not long ago, Europe seemed to be an ensemble of democratic nations that, for the most part, had embraced liberal democracy. These nations displayed a determination to spread the spirit of Western liberal democracy to neighboring regions, including the Arab world, Islamist Turkey, and nationalist Russia. Recent and dramatic developments, however, have altered all that. The democratic experiment in the Arab world largely failed, Turkey regressed to an increasingly authoritarian form of government, and Russia proved to be a brutal dictatorship. At the same time, Britain’s withdrawal weakened the European Union, while the Trump era clearly showed that America cannot be relied upon as a permanent European ally or be seen as a model for clear-cut liberal democracy. The West became disengaged.

January 31, 2022May 20, 2022

Ο νταής της Βουδαπέστης πάει σε εκλογές

Δημοσιεύτηκε στην Καθημερινή της Κυριακής, 30 Ιανουαρίου 2022.

Σκίτσο από το κόμικ “I, the People” των Takis Pappas & Alecos Papadatos

Το 2022 είναι φορτωμένο με ενδιαφέρουσες εκλογικές αναμετρήσεις σε πολλές χώρες του κόσμου, ανάμεσά τους τη Γαλλία (όπου κρίνεται η δεύτερη προεδρία Μακρόν), τη Βραζιλία (είναι σχεδόν βέβαιο ότι ο Ζαΐρ Μπολσονάρο θα χάσει την εξουσία), τις Φιλιππίνες (με κύριους πρωταγωνιστές τα παιδιά δύο αυταρχικών ηγετών, το γιό του πρώην δικτάτορα Μάρκος και την κόρη του σημερινού προέδρου Ντουτέρτε), καθώς και τις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες (όπου στις λεγόμενες «ενδιάμεσες» εκλογές το Δημοκρατικό Κόμμα αναμένεται να υποστεί απώλειες). Καμία από αυτές τις εκλογικές αναμετρήσεις, ωστόσο, δεν θα είναι τόσο σημαντική όσο οι εθνικές εκλογές της Ουγγαρίας στις 3 Απριλίου. Και τούτο διότι κανένα από τα δύο πιθανά αποτελέσματα αυτών των εκλογών δεν πρόκειται να είναι θετικό, ούτε για τη δημοκρατία ούτε για την Ευρώπη.

January 31, 2022January 31, 2022

Ο νταής της Βουδαπέστης πάει σε εκλογές

Δημοσιεύτηκε στην Καθημερινή της Κυριακής, 30 Ιανουαρίου 2022. Σε αγγλική μετάφραση εδώ.

January 30, 2022February 5, 2022

The bully of Budapest goes to the polls

Originally published as an op-ed in Greek newspaper Kathimerini, 30 January 2022.

2022 is packed with critical elections in many places around the globe, including France (to decide whether Emmanuel Macron will continue to be the resident of the Élysée), Brazil (Jair Bolsonaro is almost certain to suffer a rout), the Philippines (featuring the scions of two autocrats—the son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos and the daughter of current president Rodrigo Duterte—as main protagonists), and the United States (where the Democrats are expected to suffer losses in the November midterm elections). None of those contests, however, is as important as Hungary’s national elections in early April. The reason for that is that none of the possible outcomes in that contest can be good for democracy or for Europe.

May 3, 2021May 5, 2021

Europe’s party politics transformed

Circa 1990, nearly all major parties in Europe belonged to the liberal type. Fast forward through the decades that followed since to our own day, and this isn’t the case any more. Liberal parties are currently in decline while other party types, such as populist and nativist parties, have emerged strong in several nations across the continent. How did that happen and what are the main consequences of such transformations? This essay and the interactive infographic that accompanies it explain.

The content of this blog has appeared in the form of policy brief published by the European Liberal Forum in May 2021.

stating THE ISSue

For a time, post-war European politics was dominated by the liberal type of party. These broadly liberal parties were who originally envisaged the idea of a united Europe and subsequently carried the torch for the advancement of open society in a progressively integrated Europe under rule of law. Over many decades, Europe’s party systems operated as liberal political cartels in which the major parties competed for power against each other, largely unchallenged by other party types. Fast forward to the present day, and the talk around town is about the decline of the formerly established liberal parties, the proliferation of new populist ones, and, ominously enough, the rise of various other so-called anti-system parties—leading to democratic backsliding and, potentially, the disintegration of the European Union. Which part of this narrative corresponds to empirical reality, and which is just hype and headlines? More to the point: What is the current picture of Europe’s party politics? And what is the outlook for the future at EU level?

January 18, 2021March 23, 2021

How to distinguish charismatic from ordinary leaders: An infographic

If you are interested in the topic of leadership, have at the moment nothing better to do, or both of the above, why don’t you try to see whether the characteristics of charismatic leadership as explained this infographic fit the cases of political leaders that you have a good knowledge of? When you play this game, remember that there’s only one basic rule to it: To qualify as “charismatic,” the leader(s) you choose must meet all ten of the characteristics mentioned. They disqualify, and thus revert to the category of “ordinary” leader(s), if they miss even one of those characteristics. Playing it should be fun! (And, by the way, if you are a true fan of infographics, you may also enjoy this one.)

May 23, 2020April 13, 2022

Populism vs. nativism

Populism and nativism are often confused. But they are distinct phenomena. They develop in different places, have different causes, use different rhetoric and symbolic discourse, present different leaderships, and have different kinds of influence on the democratic societies in which they develop. Therefore, they call for different political and policy responses from politicians, policy-makers, and other relevant stakeholders in society. This infographic points out those differences. If you want to know more, please check my previous work on this topic here, here, and here. More is to come.

May 13, 2020September 7, 2020

Populism vs. nativism: 10 indicators to tell the two apart

These two terms (or, better, concepts) are often confused. They are often lumped together under the generic, and generally abused, “populism” label. But nativism and populism are quite distinct phenomena. They have different causes, different ways of developing in contemporary Europe, and different kinds of influence on the democratic societies in which they grow. Clearly, then, they call for different political and policy responses from politicians, policy-makers, and other relevant stakeholders in society. This post is a simple endeavor to point out those differences. If you want to read more about them, please check my previous work on this topic here, here, and here. I am currently continuing my work on nativism within the H2020 PaCE research program. And, in a not so remote future as I hope, there will be more to say and write in book form about Europe’s strongly nativist nations.

Continue reading “Populism vs. nativism: 10 indicators to tell the two apart”

April 10, 2020April 11, 2020

How to beat populism: Theory validation

This post is a follow-up to a previous one on the theory of how to beat populism. Here’s the empirical validation of the theoretical points made with reference to the case of Greece. Like the previous post, this one is an extract from my recent essay “The Pushback Against Populism: The Rise and Fall of Greece’s New Illiberalism,” published in the Journal of Democracy 31:2, April 2020. Another post will follow with the lessons other countries may draw from Greece’s rich experience with populism.

We posited in the previous post that unraveling modern populism would require a chain of developments inverting those that brought populists to power in the first place. Following this logic, the line of developments leading to populism’s downfall should begin with a liberal leader who acts within a populist-ruled political system, but in opposition to it. Events in Greece during the period from January 2016 through July 2019 offer perhaps the best illustration that we have of how such a leader’s rise might play out in practice.

Continue reading “How to beat populism: Theory validation”

March 31, 2020April 9, 2020

The case about Hungary

As of today, 31 March 2020, Hungary is no longer a democratic country. This raises at least four major questions in search for answers. Let’s give it a try based on previous research I have produced on this topic (you may follow the links provided).

What did happen in Hungary yesterday?

On Monday, 30 March 2020, the Hungarian parliament voted by a two-thirds supermajority to hand over its legislative powers to prime minister Viktor Orbán allowing him to rule by decree without a set time limit. The pretext was taking emergency measures to address the coronavirus crisis; but the real aim, and final result, was the death of democracy in an EU country. For, at bottom, Hungary’s parliamentary democracy is now officially dead. Continue reading “The case about Hungary”