Back to the Future? Revolution of the Right in Hungary

The right-wing Fidesz party's overwhelming victory in the 2010 Hungarian national parliamentary elections was a political earthquake. Armed with a super-majority that gives it virtually a free hand, Fidesz has effected what some have called a constitutional revolution from above. Opponents of Fidesz see Hungary veering into the kind of dictatorship that ruled Hungary during the interwar period. This paper examines the claim that interwar authoritarianism is being revived. It argues that although certain features of current politics resemble the so-called "Christian-national" course pursued by interwar governments, differences in the international context render a return to traditional dictatorship unlikely.