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51. Academic Freedom: A Test and a Tool for Illiberalism, Neoliberalism, and Liberal Democracy

Author:
András L. Pap
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:
Using the case study of Hungary, this article investigates the status and role of academic freedom in (neo)liberal democracies and illiberal regimes. Here, academic freedom is gauged in three dimensions: teaching, research, and publishing (cultivated at research institutes and universities). The inquiry begins with an overview of academic freedom under Viktor Orbán’s Hungary. This case study provides a snapshot of how academic freedom can be curtailed in a hybrid illiberal regime. The article’s second half provides an assessment of the three contextual dimensions through which the case study may be relevant—particularly for a social science and international affairs audience. The first context shows how the second phase of emerging authoritarian regimes target cultural life as a soft tool to cement and solidify illiberalism once the capture of constitutional institu- tions has been accomplished. The second context refers to the role and ambition of international instruments to sustain autocracies in the making. The case of the Hungarian government’s entanglement with the European Union (EU), Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, and the European Court of Human Rights documents the institutional inability of multilevel constitutional organs to administer ex-post restorative constitutional justice. It also points to the ten- dency of these organs to experiment with “Al Capone”-like judicial strategies in referring to the breach of equal treatment and General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) commitments to disguise inadequate rule of law shortcomings.
Topic:
Democracy, Neoliberalism, Illiberalism, and Academic Freedom
Political Geography:
Europe and Hungary

52. Freedom of Expression in Times of COVID-19: Chilling Effect in Hungary and Serbia Article Sidebar

Author:
Kristina Cendic and Gergely Gosztonyi
Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
Institution:
Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
Abstract:
New technologies have opened several risks to safety of journalists. More importantly, in the state of emergency caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, journalists and media actors have shifted their activities online more than ever, which also made them more prone to digital threats and attacks. In some regimes there are even organized intimidation campaigns against political opponents causing chilling effect and self-censorship, and jeopardizing freedom of expression in general. Hungary as a member of the European Union since 2004 and Serbia as a leading candidate to join the EU are two countries where the problems and concerns about media freedom is growing every day. The fear from the unknown during the international pandemic gave opportunity to some governments to hide their real political agendas and cover their desire for the 'good-old-fashioned' censorship. The number of countries where some kind of censorship could be found is growing every day. The authors will show two country-case-studies from Hungary and Serbia, where the leaders and the political situations are very similar and could show a (good or bad) example to other countries that would like to follow the illiberal views on media issues.
Topic:
Media, Freedom of Expression, Journalism, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe, Serbia, and Hungary

53. Covid-19 bends the rules on internal border controls: Yet another crisis undermining the Schengen acquis?

Author:
Saila Heinikoski
Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA)
Abstract:
Free movement within the Schengen Area has been challenged in recent years by national measures: from internal border checks after the ‘migration crisis’ to the closure of borders in the Covid-19 crisis. This is the first time in the history of Schengen that member states have categorically refused entry to other EU citizens who are not registered residents or cross-border workers. Seventeen Schengen countries have submitted a notification on reintroducing internal border control due to Covid-19: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Switzerland. The use of Schengen provisions was creative: 12 states justified their internal border controls as a case requiring immediate action (Art. 28), France and Denmark expanded their already existing internal border controls (Art. 25), Finland appealed to the ‘foreseeable event’ clause (Art. 25), and Slovakia and Poland introduced ‘healthcare-police measures’ (Art. 23) before launching border controls (Art. 28). The crisis illustrates the need to reform Schengen in order to maintain the legitimacy of commonly agreed rules.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation, European Union, Public Health, Schengen, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Europe, Finland, Norway, France, Poland, Lithuania, Germany, Estonia, Belgium, Denmark, Hungary, Spain, Switzerland, Portugal, Iceland, Austria, Czech Republic, and Slovakia

54. Roma in the COVID-19 Crisis

Author:
Neda Korunovska and Zeljko Jovanovic
Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Case Study
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
Roma communities in Europe face a much higher risk of death from COVID-19, as their situation, already marked by extreme racism and poverty, has been worsening in the last decade. However, the European Union member states covered in this policy brief—Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain—have not responded with proportionate support. This brief argues that the COVID-19 crisis and the EU’s recovery plan in response both present an opportunity to improve the conditions of Europe’s Roma—not only in terms of rights, obligations, needs, but in the interests of sound political and economic decision-making across the region.
Topic:
Economics, Health, Human Rights, Health Care Policy, Social Policy, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Europe, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Spain, Italy, and Slovakia

55. A New Risk to the EU from Coronavirus Viktor Orbán’s Hungary

Author:
András Rácz
Publication Date:
03-2020
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)
Abstract:
Political leaders could abuse the coronavirus crisis to undermine democracy. Europe’s biggest risk is Hungary. In late March, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán could use his two-thirds majority in parliament to push through a law that would empower him to rule by decrees with no specified time limit. If he succeeds, it will undermine the European Union’s core principles, making the EU even more fragmented and difficult to manage once the pandemic is over.
Topic:
Government, Authoritarianism, European Union, Democracy, Coronavirus, and Pandemic
Political Geography:
Europe and Hungary

56. Stereotypes of the political left and right in Hungary

Author:
Nora Anna Lantos and Nora Orsolya Balazs
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Warsaw East European Review (WEER)
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
The meaning, perception and psychological correlates of liberal-conservative or left- wing – right-wing ideologies are very popular topics in political psychology. This direction of research focuses on the affective/ motivational background of party and ideological preferences, assuming essential psychological differences behind them. These differ- ences were detected by multiple methods in previous studies. Some, using self-reporting questionnaires, focus on the personality, attitude or value differences between partici- pants with a left-wing or right-wing orientation1, 2, 3, while others place the emphasis on the general perception of differences between leftist-rightist orientation and the attributions given to them4, 5. The latter approach is related to the concept of stereotype.
Topic:
Leftist Politics, Identity, Stereotypes, Partisanship, and Right-Wing Politics
Political Geography:
Europe and Hungary

57. Deindustrialization and Deaths of Despair: Mapping the Impact of Industrial Decline on Ill Health

Author:
Gabor Scheiring, David Stuckler, and Lawrence King
Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), University of Massachusetts Amherst
Abstract:
A growing literature on deaths of despair has argued that workers’ declining life expectancy in deindustrialized rustbelt areas in the U.S. and the associated deepening of health inequalities signal the profound existential crisis of contemporary capitalism. Competing explanations downplay the negative consequences of “creative destruction” and focus instead on unhealthy lifestyles. This article contributes to this debate by presenting the first empirical analysis of the role of deindustrialization in the deaths of despair epidemic that hit Eastern Europe in the 1990s. Drawing on the thematic analysis of 82 semi-structured interviews in four deindustrialized towns in Hungary, the article constructs a general sociological framework for analyzing deaths of despair applicable to other rustbelt areas. Deindustrialization engenders individual and social processes that affect health by increasing stress and eroding coping resources. By conceptualizing deindustrialization as a fundamental cause of ill health, sociology has great potential to contribute to understanding the root causes of deaths of despair.
Topic:
Health, Political Economy, Capitalism, Mortality, Industry, and Deindustrialization
Political Geography:
Europe and Hungary

58. Privatization and the Postsocialist Fertility Decline

Author:
Gabor Scheiring, Bryant Hui, Darja Irdam, Aytalina Azarova, and Eva Fodor
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), University of Massachusetts Amherst
Abstract:
In this article, we analyze the privatization of companies as a potential but so far neglected factor behind the postsocialist fertility decline. We test this hypothesis using a novel database comprising information on the demographic and enterprise trajectories of 52 Hungarian towns between 1989-2006 and a cross-country dataset of 28 countries in Eastern Europe. We fit fixed and random-effects models adjusting for potential confounding factors and control for time-variant factors and common trends. We find that privatization is significantly associated with fertility decline, explaining approximately half of the overall fertility decline across the 52 towns and the 28 countries.
Topic:
Privatization, Capitalism, Post-Socialist Economies, and Fertility
Political Geography:
Europe and Hungary

59. Is the “show-the-flag” strategy relevant for Visegrad countries in securing the EU?

Author:
Hana N. Hlaváčková
Publication Date:
10-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Revista UNISCI/UNISCI Journal
Institution:
Unidad de investigación sobre seguridad y cooperación (UNISCI)
Abstract:
The European security environment has changed and the EU has become more independent in its security policy. New threats faced by the EU in 2014 (the migration crises) and other remaining threats (such as terrorism, organised crime, piracy) need solving by its greater involvement in the region. One problem that the EU tries to solve is the inconsistency of member states in security issues. In this article, we focus on the V4 group and their opinions towards EU security. This article examines strategies adopted by small/new EU member states to protect European borders and European territories and regions outside the EU that affect their security. For a long time, the V4 countries only participated sporadically in EU missions. The article shows what changes took place and what were the reasons for the decision to participate or not in the EU activities. The article raises the question of whether the showthe-flag strategy adopted by the V4 countries and their participation in EU missions is relevant for ensuring European security nowadays.
Topic:
Security, NATO, Politics, and European Union
Political Geography:
Europe, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and United States of America

60. Conceptualizing the Theoretical Category of Neo-militant Democracy: The Case of Hungary

Author:
Joanna Rak
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Polish Political Science Yearbook
Institution:
Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
Abstract:
The article aims to formulate a theoretical category of neo-militant democracy that applies to study the nature and dynamics of democratic regimes after the 2008 economic crisis. It conducts an empirical test to verify the analytical effectiveness of the redeveloped category. The test takes a form of the case study of the Hungarian political system. Apart from a verification-objective, the research aims to identify and account for the dynamics of the Hungarian regime in terms of the neo-militant democracy principle. The qualitative method of source analysis serves to collect data on the processes of becoming neo-militant democracy. The selection of sources is deliberate and oriented on finding information about the implementation of neo-militant democracy measures in Hungary (2008-2019). The technique of qualitative content analysis applies to identify the nature of these processes. The theoretical tool is the category of neo-militant democracy, which simultaneously undergoes the empirical test. The main argument is that the process of becoming neo-militant democracy took a traditional form since the Hungarian neo-militant democracy principle drew on the traditional means introduced by Loewenstein rather than innovations advanced by the current research
Topic:
Religion, Democracy, Theocracy, and Identity
Political Geography:
Europe and Hungary