Recent times have seen “strongmen” leaders like Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Mohammad Bin Salman, Paul Kagame, Kim Jong Un etc. rule with authority and intolerance to dissent. It is the norm in undemocratic and single-party regimes. But the recent rise of hard-right leaders in participative democracies with tendencies and instincts similar to “strongmen” leaders, is a new and growing phenomenon.

Herein, leaders like Recep Erdogan, Donald Trump, Rodrigo Duterte, Jair Bolsonaro etc., who proximate the leaders in non-democratic countries, had become an increasing trend. One of the early poster boys of this trend was Hungarian Viktor Orban. The unashamed hardliner had infamously said, “The new state that we are building is an illiberal state…” Counterintuitively, such statements had ingratiated Orban in the eyes of his mesmerised masses, who were frankly worn out by insipid moderation, perceived meekness, and political correctness. Like all authoritarians in democracies, the vain Orban even encouraged an ideology to be named after himself i.e., Orbanism.

Unbridled jingoism masquerading as nationalism became the prop to put down any contrarian opinion. From vilifying political opponents to diminishing or compromising constitutional institutions intended to serve as checks-and-balances on executive authority, Orban trampled with impunity. Even the courts, electoral bodies, and the so-called independent media toed his official line, obsequiously. Unlike the “strongmen” in dictatorships, Orban’s “illiberal democracy” sought a more surreptitious route of changing, restructuring, and controlling the narrative, from within the democratic system.

At times this is even more dangerous than overt dictatorship as here the façade of democracy is persisted with, but long-lasting structural changes ensure a deterioration in the quality of democracies and freedoms. Orban became the beacon for reshaping democracy from the inside. As is the norm with such leaders, populistic positions that fan and satiate the most wonton instincts of the masses (read majority), becomes invaluable. Orban railed against the “elite,” he fear-mongered about........

© The Statesman