ABSTRACT
Populist political campaigns have achieved notable successes in recent years and, having achieved power in some countries, proceeded to dismantle democratic institutions and processes. A unique case in Europe of a populist power grab is Hungary, where an autocratic one-party system has successfully replaced democracy, according to the latest report by Freedom House. This chapter presents a social psychological analysis of how such a dramatic change came about, and the implications of the Hungarian experience for the international rise of populism will be considered. In the first part of the chapter, we offer a theoretical overview of the rise of populist politics and the role of damaged national identity, feelings of helplessness and collective narcissism, and populist propaganda in Hungary’s rejection of democracy. In the second half of the chapter, we present the results of three empirical studies assessing the links between populist ideology and a range of related psychological variables in explaining voting behavior. We also consider recent international evidence for the role of psychological factors in the rise of populist movements, and the broader implications of our analysis for the current crisis of democracy are considered.
