A Power or a Populist Agenda? How Orbán's Migration and Family Policies Challenge Conceptions of Ideological Populism in Hungary and the EU

Abstract

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s rhetoric and policies have been the center of international attention since his second mandate in 2010. After the 2015 migration crisis, populist sentiment has been further entrenched in the PM’s platform. In this thesis, I analyze Orbán’s populist label using two competing approaches: populism as a discursive style and populism as a thin- centered ideology. Using a body of Orbán’s high-profile speeches since 2015, I find that migration and family policies are the most important pillars to the Fidesz party platform. I then match policy outcomes to their stated objectives in Orbán’s political discourse. I predict that Orbán’s style of populism is chiefly discursive because of the discrepancies between his rhetoric and his actions in several areas of his migration and family policies. Lastly, I use my findings to draw connections to Hungary’s position in the European Union. I conclude that Orbán uses historical and political traditions to foment his populist speech, but his political actions in areas of both policies challenge the approach that Orbán framework for policy-making pursues ideational aspirations rather than political ambitions.