The Curious Appeal of Hungary’s "Goulash Populism" in the US and EU

• In Event: Governing Autocracies in Russia and Eastern Europe

Abstract

This research is a case study of the Hungarian-model of “goulash populism” focusing on the appeal of the Hungarian-model to spread into other democracies, especially into the U.S.

The Russian or Turkish brands of populism with frequent arrests of opposition figures are not attractive to political leaders in Western democracies but Hungary’s less extreme model of “goulash populism” with minimal political violence proved to be more adaptable. Within the EU, Poland implemented similar policies followed by others to lesser degrees. With the election of Trump as the President of the U.S. in 2016, a Transatlantic angle also emerged. It is well-documented that Trump looked at the Hungarian example of populism favorably, calling the Hungarian Prime Minister “highly respected” and praising him for the “tremendous job” he had done. Trump’s failed re-election campaign did not deem “Trumpism” (nor “Orbanism”) obsolete in the US. The Hungarian-model of populism continues to be popular among Republicans. Conservative television host Tucker Carlson broadcast his popular daily show from Budapest for a week in 2021. In 2022, the American Conservative Union held its annual conference in Hungary, labeled as the engine of the “conservative renaissance.” Orban delivered the opening address at the Conservative Political Action Conference's annual gathering in Dallas in 2022

Author

• Zsolt Nyiri, Montclair State University