What Can Liberals and Democrats Fight With? Finding a Winning Narrative in the High-stakes 2024 European Elections

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ISTVÁN HEGEDŰS: Introduction – 6
1. Things might go wrong (or even worse) – 6
2. Things will remain the same – 7
3. Things become better – 8

CHAPTER 1
LIBERAL VERSUS ANTI-LIBERAL VALUES IN HUNGARY AND THE ORBÁN-GOVERNMENT’S SOVEREIGNTIST POLICY

AMB. DR. ISTVÁN SZENT-IVÁNYI: The Great Illiberal Delusion And Its Failure: The Rise and Fall of the Hungarian Illiberal Foreign Policy – 12

ZOLTÁN RANSCHBURG: Economic Crises as Opportunities to Strengthen Liberal Democracies – 20

ZSUZSANNA BODA − KATA KISS − DÁNIEL RÓNA: Attitudes of Hungarian Society Towards Gender Roles − An International Comparison – 31
1. Introduction – 31
2. Methodology – 31
3. Analysis – 32
3.1. Analysis of gender equality attitudes within Hungary along demographic groups – 32
3.2. International comparison from a gender equality perspective – 44
4. Conclusions – 47

CHAPTER 2 POLARISATION, PROTEST, POPULIST COMMUNICATION

JACQUELIEN VAN STEKELENBURG: Embracing the Democratic Dance: Navigating the Complex Terrain of Modern Democracy – 49
1. A comprehensive understanding of democratic engagement – 51
2. A comprehensive understanding of absorptive capacities of political actors – 53
3. A comprehensive understanding of democratic implications – 54
4. In conclusion – 55 

CHAPTER 3 FROM THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN STAGE TO THE INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ARENA: THE FUTURE OF A LIBERAL WORLD ORDER

ROLAND FREUDENSTEIN: Are the Bad Guys Winning? The Challenge of Autocracy and The Global Solidarity of Democrats – 59
1. The Global Backslide – 59
2. Autocracy Inc. – 60
3. Democrats of the World, Unite! – 62
4. Conclusion – 64

DR. JACEK KUCHARCZYK: How the Democrats Defeated the Populists in Power in Poland’s 2023 Parliamentary Elections – Lessons for Europe – 65
The response of the democratic opposition – 68
Uneven playing field – 69
Dominant election campaign narratives – 70
Responding to specific populist narratives – 71
The oppositional agenda – 73
The role of civil society – 74
Pro-turnout campaigns: women and young voters – 74
Concluding remarks: what are the lessons for Europe from the Polish 2023 elections? – 77

ZSUZSANNA VÉGH: An Illiberal International on the Horizon? The Radical Right in the 2024 European Parliamentary Elections – 79
Gaining traction in the European Parliament – 79
Recent trends and predictions for the next parliament – 80
Practical implications of the radical right’s rise – 81