I am participating at 82nd Annual Midwest Political Science Association Conference in Chicago between April 3-6, 2025. My paper is the following: The Transatlantic Network of Authoritarian Populism: The Rise of the Executive from Hungary to the USA.
A remarkable phenomenon is unfolding regarding the international networking of right-wing authoritarian populism (RWAP): the Hungarian Orbán regime has for a long time been looking to the radicalizing American right as a reference point, which after President Donald Trump's fall is also trying to build a strong international network for authoritarian right-wing tendencies – as it evidenced by Orbán's appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in 2022. At the heart of these transatlantic ideological networks is the idea of the rise of the executive. There is an emergence of authoritarian executive power which means on the one hand that the executive power is extremely strengthened, on the other hand the theory of separation of powers has totally been redesigned and this has a huge impact on the landscape of democracy. In this chapter, I will first examine what international right-wing authoritarian populism (IRWAP) represents and how it has begun to internationalize and build transatlantic structures. I then discuss the main theoretical approaches that link authoritarian right-wing populisms, Orbánism and Trumpism: it will be investigated how the contemporary authoritarian right draws on Carl Schmitt's political theory, and the theory of the Unitary Executive Power (UET). Finally, I will examine the channels of cooperation and deep state relations that have emerged in recent years between Hungarian and American right-wing authoritarian populisms. I will first analyse the process by which Orbánism and Trumpism come together through immigration resistance to the point where CPAC becomes a joint Republican-Fidesz platform. I will then detail the complex lobbying activities of the Orbán regime in the USA. Finally, I will also discuss how the Orbán regime has created an authoritarian right-wing network of conservative intellectuals. To conclude the chapter, I will hint at the possible outcomes of the IRWAP phenomenon.
