Hungarian and Polish Democratic Backsliding: Two Stories with the Same Ending

Abstract

In recent years countries such as Hungary and Poland in Europe, as well as India and Brazil in the global south, have featured in the news as examples of democratic backsliding. Hungary and Poland have shared histories as post-Warsaw Pact countries- they share many characteristics and are both parliamentary democracies-and members of the EU- and yet they have experienced different rates of democratic backsliding. What are the similarities and differences between Poland and Hungary- and how have they resulted in different rates of democratic backsliding? I will analyze how both countries are similar before testing six theories of democratic backsliding-as presented by Waldner and Lust (2018)- for both countries, including (1) agency-based theories, (2) political cultures theories, (3) political institutions theories, (4) political economy theories, (5) social structure and political coalitions theories, and (6) international factors theories, before I compare their differences and distinguish what set them apart.