Wider View explores Hungary's complex role in Europe under the leadership of Viktor Orbán. Despite leading the EU Council, Orbán has actively blocked aid to Ukraine and challenged EU norms, raising questions about his loyalty to the West. With ties to Putin and a controversial stance on NATO, is Hungary moving away from democratic values?

I spoke with TVP WORLD, an international news network operated by Polish Television, discussing the social and economic foundations of Viktor Orbán's politics.

Driven by globalization and the information technology revolution, the world political landscape is undergoing unprecedented changes. Against this backdrop, populism, as a political phenomenon, has gradually moved from the periphery to the center, becoming a key force influencing modern political development. In recent years, populism has exhibited new characteristics and trends in Western societies, particularly against the backdrop of economic inequality, political polariza

Orbán, Trump, Ukraine, Europe and many other related topics in may interview on Japanese national broadcast TV. (In Japanese )

In this article in The Conversation, I dive into our first-of-its-kind meta-analysis published in the British Journal of Political Science.

“Orban and Vucic are both the kind of illiberal leaders who are positioning their countries between the rivaling geo-political blocs, hoping to avoid too strong dependence on any one of them,”

Happy to share my review of Ali Kadivar's excellent book on the social foundations of democracies, just out in the American Journal of Sociology. From Seymour Lipset to Stein Rokkan, sociologists were central in establishing the discipline of comparative politics, studying regime change. However, if you attend any conference today on democracy, you will hear much less about the social fabric of democracies than about its formal dimensions. Sociology has become peripheral in t

I talked with Reimagining Post-Socialist Georgia Podcast about how th post-socialist mortality crisis emerged, its political implications for today, and what types of methodologies are most effective for researching these topics and more in post-socialist countries.

“I watched Hungary’s democracy dissolve into authoritarianism as a member of parliament — and I see troubling parallels in Trumpism and its appeal to workers." It’s official: Following Tuesday’s primaries, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump appear set for a rematch in November after both candidates secured enough delegates to win their parties’ nominations. This past weekend, Republican front-runner Donald Trump hosted Hungary’s authoritarian Prime Minister

I watched Hungary’s democracy dissolve into authoritarianism as a member of parliament − and I see troubling parallels in Trumpism

What is driving populism? Why has the populist vote in Europe ballooned from roughly ten percent at the turn of the millennium to one in three lst year? https://euobserver.com/66623/economic-hardship-drives-the-populist-vote/

Thrilled to share our article just out in the British Journal of Political Science. The first meta-analysis of the evidence of a causal association between economic insecurity and populism provides a definite answer confirming that economic insecurity is a robust cause. Abstract The literature on populism is divided on whether economic factors are significant and robust causes of populism. To clarify this, we performed the first systematic review and meta-analysis of the evid

I contributed a chapter to the Routledge Handbook of Autocratization. ABSTRACT This chapter reviews the role of social class dynamics behind autocratization. The first section revisits modernization theorists’ arguments about why the business class might be against autocracy and in favor of democratization. However, several sociologists and critical political economists have been skeptical about the mutually beneficial relationship between capitalism and democracy and the sup

I'm enthusiastic about the next six months as a visiting scholar at Harvard University's Centre for European Studies. The research for this project began with my Ph.D. in Cambridge, UK. I can hardly think of a better way to write up the research for a new book than a fellowship in Cambridge, MA. If all goes well, I'll get on with the writing, get feedback from fellow fellows, resident profs, and students, and make new friends. If you're in the area, let me know!

It's great to see our chapter on the political economy of the postsocialist mortality crisis published early this year.

The essay, published in the journal of ATTAC France, explains why Polish populism is labor-oriented, Czech populism is pro-status quo, and why Hungarian populism serves the ruling economic elites. La montée simultanée du populisme et le déclin de la démocratie libérale en Europe centrale et orientale contrastent de manière frappante avec l’optimisme qui prévalait au cours des décennies précédentes quant à l’avenir de la région. Dans cet essai, j’approfondis mes analyses précé

In this op-ed, I explore the latest Freedom House Nations in Transit Report, its implications for Hungary, and how the report only reveals the tip of the iceberg of the democratic backsliding in Hungary. According to the latest Freedom House Nations in Transit Report, the quality of the remaining democratic institutions in Hungary is poorer than in Albania, Serbia, or Northern Macedonia. Hungary has not been a democracy since 2020, according to Freedom House. However, the r

Why did 7M people die prematurely in Eastern Europe during the transition in the 90s? In our paper in the Cambridge Journal of Economics, we present new evidence for the role of deindustrialization. First of all, the increase in mortality was centered on middle-aged men between 30 and 59. The elderly, not the young, or infants who are sensitive to that quality of care did not experience a significant increase. Thus, healthcare system changes cannot explain the excess deaths.

In my new essay, The Politics of Growth Models and Populism in East-Central Europe, I embed my research on populism in the growth model perspective. In my new essay, The Politics of Growth Models and Populism in East-Central Europe, I embed my research on populism in the growth model perspective. Out now in the Economic Sociology Newsletter published by the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPfIG). The growth model framework allows for an elegant, critical synt

Populism scholars cannot ignore the robust causal evidence on the disruptive political effects of economic insecurity and claim that economic factors play no role in populism. To beat right-wing populism, politicians and policymakers need to tackle economic insecurity. My piece in the Culture Wars Papers of the Illiberalism Studies Program.

Éber Márk Áronnal beszélgettem a Partizán podcastjában arról, hogy miért fontos megismerni azt a társadalmi koalíciót, amely a Fidesz hegemóniájának a támasza.

The American Journal of Sociology published a review of my book, The retreat of liberal democracy.

New Perspectives on Deindustrialization as Socio-Economic Disintegration - Our essay with Anne-Marie Jeannet for the SASE blog.

This article for the Marxist Sociology Blog presents a novel theory on deindustrialization, social disintegration, and health.