Antiliberalism and Counter-Enlightenment for the 21st Century: Viktor Orbán's Illiberal Political Ideology

Abstract This article analyses the political speeches of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán between 2014 and 2023 by applying the ‘ideational approach’. Questioning the description of Orbán as a politician whose career represents nothing but opportunism and kleptocracy, the article argues that his politics are driven and underpinned by an illiberal political ideology. Examining how Orbán conceptualizes illiberalism in the realms of (1) Hungarian domestic politics; (2) foreign and global politics; and (3) cultural politics (understood in the Gramscian sense as a battle for fundamental values), this article offers a systematic analysis of Hungarian illiberalism and of the interrelations of its main ideological components. The article also examines how and why Orbán portrays himself not only as the authentic voice of the Hungarian people, but also simultaneously as the genuine representative of original Europeanness.