ABSTRACT
The chapter follows up the development of regime types in Hungary between the democratic transition and 2018 on the basis of the irresponsibility frame. It links regime types to elite configuration and leadership style and demonstrates that through the transformation of various elite patterns irresponsibility has cumulative dynamics. The chapter argues that the dividing lines between regime types are thin and elite behavior—embodied in myopia, malicious hypocrisy, pseudo-transformative, or toxic leadership—is a significant explanatory factor in the erosion of democracy. Elite-induced changes can facilitate regimes to slip from one form to another. Elite responsibility may therefore be a better frame for understanding regime developments than that of representation or responsiveness. While governments and oppositional elites have different opportunities to behave in an irresponsible manner, irresponsibility may permeate both sides. When this occurs these behaviors acquire a systemic nature. The neglect of responsibility in institutional, policy, and moral aspects may have detrimental consequences on the performance of the system in political, policy, and societal terms.
