Restoring constitutional democracy. Preliminary assessment of the Hungarian case

Abstract

Abstract: Restoring constitutional democracy. Preliminary assessment of the Hungarian case - This contribution provides a provisional assessment of the political change currently unfolding in Hungary. Given the precarious and highly fluid nature of the present constitutional moment, any evaluation must remain cautious and provisional, as developments may rapidly alter the terms of analysis. Against this background, the essay focuses on selected institutions within Hungary’s constitutional architecture, especially the Head of State and the Constitutional Court, and considers their possible role as veto players in a process of democratic and constitutional restoration. The broader aim is to ask whether this process may be understood as a reverse trajectory of the previous erosion of the rule of law, while situating Hungary’s constitutional pathologies within a comparative perspective in order to identify categories useful for understanding both constitutional crisis and possible reconstruction.

 Keywords: Democratic backsliding; Constitutional repair; Revenge constitutionalism; Hungary