Dorottya Szikra Discusses Social Policies of Illiberal Parties on 24.hu

Fidesz has successfully convinced people in need that they themselves are responsible for their fate, Dorottya Szikra, a researcher at the DI, said on popular Hungarian news portal 24.hu’s video program “Election in a Disintegrating World.”

On the program, Dorottya Szikra discussed the social policies of some illiberal and populist parties, focusing on Hungarian ruling party Fidesz. She said that surprisingly, populist parties are fairly consistent in their social policy: they generally carry out what they promise. By contrast, many mainstream parties, especially on the left, often lose credibility by making extensive promises that are then followed by austerity measures.

As for Hungary, she said people have internalized the idea that, behind the slogan of a “work‑based society,” the state places all responsibility on the individual, as if having a job were always solely a matter of personal choice. “People’s awareness of what they are entitled to in terms of social benefits is very low,” she said, adding that this has certainly contributed to the fact that many people were not sufficiently outraged by the redistributive system implemented by Fidesz, which gives little to the poorest, while redistributing upward.

Watch the interview and read a summary here (in Hungarian).