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    Published: 2022-12-28
    No. 26 (2022)

    “Hungary is the place to be right now”: Hungarian post-liberalism and its inf luence on American conservatives

    Nicholas Morieson
    Christianity-World-Politics
    Section: Articles
    https://doi.org/10.21697/CSP.2022.26.1.06

    Abstract

    This paper examines emerging post-liberalism on the American political right, and its relationship with the Hungarian post-liberalism associated with Viktor Orbán and his ruling Fidesz party. The electoral success enjoyed by Viktor Orbán in Hungary, and his transformation of Hungary into a post-liberal ‘Christian democracy’, has inspired interest in Hungary among many social conservatives in the United States. For Americans who belong to the post-liberal right, Orbán’s government is a ‘model’ insofar as they believe the Hungarian Prime minister has done what American right could not do: prevent liberals and progressives from ‘capturing’ state institutions and major corporations. 

    American post-liberals’ interest in Orbán has led to several visiting him, and the decision to hold the CPAC conference in Budapest in 2022. This paper examines why so many Americans conservatives have come to admire Orbán’s ‘post-liberal’ regime in Hungary, what they have learned from Orbán, and investigates whether American conservative activists and politicians are now putting Orbán style illiberalism into practice in American politics. 

    The paper thus first examines the writings of post-liberal, pro-Orbán, American conservative journalists, intellectuals, and activists, and explores the reasons behind their antipathy to liberalism, admiration of Orbán, and desire to bring to America Orbán style post-liberal government. Second, to determine whether Orbán style post-liberalism is now being practiced by American conservative politicians and activists, the paper examines the activities of conservative activist Christopher Rufo, the legislation passed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and the rise of post-liberal, populist Republican candidate Blake Masters, who are sometimes alleged to be inspired or influenced by Viktor Orbán. 

    The paper finds that American post-liberals have different reasons for rejecting liberalism, and different ideas about what a post-liberal society might look like. Some believe that the foundations of liberalism are problematic and make a kind of ‘false god’ out of liberty, and,, in doing so encourage behaviour antithetical to the common good. What they share, however, is a belief that the politically and religiously neutral liberal democratic state is collapsing, that future Western governments will therefore be illiberal, and this being so, that state institutions and corporations will either be dominated by ‘woke’ progressives or social conservatives. 

    Equally, the paper finds that American post-liberals know little about Hungary and its culture and are not attempting to replicate Orbán style rule in the United States. However, the paper also finds that Orbán is an inspirational figure on the post-liberal right, and that an increasing number of Republican politicians are embracing a post-liberal style of rule in which they use the power of the state to pressure their perceived corporate enemies, and to remove progressives from positions of power within state institutions. 

    Keywords:

    Viktor Orbán, Hungary, USA, postliberalism, American conservatives

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    Citation rules

    Morieson, N. (2022). “Hungary is the place to be right now”: Hungarian post-liberalism and its inf luence on American conservatives. Christianity-World-Politics, (26), 154–186. https://doi.org/10.21697/CSP.2022.26.1.06

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