The 2022 Hungarian Parliamentary Election and Centering

We examined how Centering Strategies were used by the United Opposition political coalition to try to unseat Viktor Orbán, the increasingly illiberal Prime Minister of Hungary. The failures we saw lead us to ask questions about centering and its weaknesses, as well as what alternatives could be used.

The primary methodology for our research was a case study into Hungarian electoral systems, Viktor Orbán and his party, Fidesz, and how each side appraoched and performed in the 2022 elections. This was bolstered by interviews and conversations with scholars, experts, campagin workers, and activists familair with Hungarian politics.

We found that the United Opposition used Centering tactics as well as they could, but they likely ran into two primary factors in their overwhelming defeat. The first was that historical political baggage and inconsistant messaging from the Oppostion did not give voters a strong movement to coalesce around. The second is that Orbán has tilted the playing feild in his favor much more than active opposition workers thought, Orbán has made himself nearly invincable to legal or electoral challenge.

This summer of research provided me with numerous oppurtunties for growth. I highly developed my independent research skills, networking abilities, and overall life experience through travelling independently in Eastern Europe. The ability to connect with my areas of academic interest with real world applications and then be able to interact directly with people engaged with the issue was an invaluable experience for me.

While the research on the 2022 Hungarian elections was interesting and valuable when it comes to understanding centering as a nonviolent resistant tactic, in the beginning, this was only going to be a part of a much larger investigation into centering as a whole. Now that the groundwork has been laid for why centering failed in this case, questions about alternative strategies with different strentghs or weaknesses can be made. Through connections made with activist groups and people close to the United Opposition movement, I hope to be able to continue compiling a list of alternative strategies that have been used in other movements to begin making a typology of alternative practices with larger implications for a thesis or paper headed forward.

None of this would have been possible without John Gould and the Faculty Student Research Grant, as well as the Keller Family who provided a Venture Grant to help cover costs. Thank you to both for helping me pursue my interests and ask important questions!