Political Science Matters
Orbán’s Defeat: A Turning Point for Hungary?
After 16 years of seemingly unshakeable power, Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz suffered an astounding defeat in Hungary's 2026 general election. This political earthquake saw former insider Péter Magyar and his Tisza party secure a stunning supermajority of over two-thirds in parliament. In this episode, Raul Gomez and Roula Nezi (co-editors of the Political Data Yearbook ) are joined by Professor Zsolt Enyedi (Central European University) to dissect why the Orbán model finally crumbled and why the scale of this victory caught so many by surprise. We explore the strategies that allowed a broad anti-Orbán electoral alliance to mobilize, the implications for global far-right movements that once viewed Hungary as a blueprint, and the immense challenge of enacting reform within a state where economic power and the media remain tightly controlled by Fidesz loyalists. This podcast was recorded on Thursday 23 April.
