Ungerns demokratiska tillbakagång och dess rättfärdigande : En analys av populistiska retoriska strategier

Sammanfattning: The rise to power of Viktor Orbán in 2010 has brought with it democratic backsliding and suppression of rights in Hungary, a country that in the early 2000s was seen as one of the most promising new democracies in Eastern Europe. In this thesis speeches held by Viktor Orbán during the period of 2011-2022 are examined and analyzed and further connected with identified populist strategies and framing analysis. Which tries to understand the relation between communication in the context of sender and receiver and how the receiver might interpret the message differently depending on how it is “framed”. In an attempt to understand how and which populist strategies and rhetoric has been used to justify and motivate three overarching developments during Fidesz’s period in power: the major constitutional changes of 2012 and 2013, the developments on migration and the “Stop Soros Law” as well as the suppression of LGBT rights. This paper concludes that Viktor Orbán has continuously used populist rhetoric to “attack” and undermine his opposition, whether this is in the form of the EU or domestically, championing the Hungarian cause and its people thus justifying the changes that Fidesz has implemented.