“Another World is Possible”: East-Central European States as Illiberal Exemplar Regimes
Several contemporary eastern and central European states are cited as typical examples of a political reaction against the perceived hegemony of liberalism. This reaction, increasingly termed “illiberalism” in academic studies, has been the focal point in studies on Hungary and Poland in the 2010...
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| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Sprache: | Français |
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2026
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| Online Zugang: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Zusammenfassung: | Several contemporary eastern and central European states are cited as typical examples of a political reaction against the perceived hegemony of liberalism. This reaction, increasingly termed “illiberalism” in academic studies, has been the focal point in studies on Hungary and Poland in the 2010s and 2020s. The attention paid to these two cases is not just academic: some illiberal political actors have also adopted this point of focus. For certain illiberal elites, eastern and central European cases of illiberalism serve as exemplars for political emulation, mimicry, and inspiration. This article identifies the patterns in intellectual learning, policy borrowing, and institutional imitation that English-speaking “illiberals” have discerned in the Polish and Hungarian cases, even though they have been more influenced by illiberal trends in Latin America than in Europe. A qualitative content analysis presents a typology and assessment of this transnational borrowing. Two points of interest in the eastern and central European experiences of illiberalism are brought to light, namely: their policy measures and, more broadly, their narratives (and the perspectives thus opened). This analysis also draws attention to the type of regime, which is often misidentified as the core reason for the interest in illiberalism, even though illiberals themselves are less interested in this aspect.
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