Illiberalism in East Central Europe

Abstract

This chapter first defines illiberalism in the current political, ideological circumstances of East- Central Europe followed by the description of the claims of illiberal theories. Next, this chapter discusses the heritage of illiberalism in the region, in particular how illiberal leaders use religion and the culture wars for their purposes (see also Mancini and Palazzo 2021), and the possible reasons of recent success for illiberal ideas. Most of the examples throughout the chapter are taken from Hungary and Poland, where illiberalism is most entrenched in political and social life since the backsliding of liberal democracy started a decade ago.