An Externally Constrained Hybrid Regime: Hungary in the EU

The paper focuses on the unique, role model characteristics of the Hungarian hybrid regime, the system’s new incarnation forged in the past years’ democratic backsliding process. Following the review of the main hybrid regime literature and the key analyses putting the democratic quality of the Hungarian political system under the microscope, the paper argues that Hungary’s EU membership, the competencies of EU institutions and the scope of EU law, has played a crucial role in the development of the system’s unique characteristics. Based on this argument, the paper qualifies Hungary as an “externally constrained hybrid regime”. However, the EU does not only fulfill system constraining functions regarding the Hungarian regime, but performs system support and system legitimation functions as well. At the end of the day the changing scope of these functions determined by the European integration’s internal dynamics influences first and foremost the national power elite’s strategic considerations about the country’s future EU membership.