VIENNA—The Hungarian opposition’s decisive victory over Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party has been greeted with relief across the democratic world. Armed with a constitutional majority, the center-right Tisza party and its leader, Péter Magyar, are now poised to dismantle Orbán’s 16-year grip on state institutions. What will be harder, however, is confronting the public demand for illiberal rule that sustained it.

© Project Syndicate