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Democratic Quality & Backsliding

Felipe G. Santos studies how opposition parties and voters respond when democracy erodes, with research on Hungary. In an article with Bálint Mikola, he uses 31 interviews with party elites and a nationally representative survey to study the six-party United for Hungary coalition and its 2022 open primaries. Parties joined the coalition for pragmatic reasons rooted in years of backsliding, and people who took part in the primaries tended to hold pro-democratic attitudes, to be dissatisfied with democracy and to have experience of non-electoral participation (Mikola and Santos, 2026). The article argues that backsliding pushes opposition parties to form ideologically diverse coalitions and to take on features of social movements, and that these choices match what their voters want. In the concluding chapter of Protest and Democracy, written with colleagues, he argues that democratic quality cannot be understood without considering participation outside institutions, and sets out recommendations for policymakers (Paxton and others, 2025).

How did the Hungarian opposition respond to democratic backsliding?

Mikola and Santos study the six-party United for Hungary coalition and its 2022 open primaries, using 31 interviews with party elites and a nationally representative survey. Parties joined the coalition for pragmatic reasons rooted in years of backsliding. People who took part in the primaries tended to hold pro-democratic attitudes, to be dissatisfied with democracy and to have experience of non-electoral participation. The article argues that backsliding pushes opposition parties to form ideologically diverse coalitions and to take on features of social movements.

What does participation outside institutions mean for democratic quality?

The concluding chapter of Protest and Democracy brings together the book's findings on how citizens, social movements and movement parties interact in six European countries. It argues that democratic quality cannot be understood without considering participation outside institutions. It also sets out recommendations for policymakers, including on how established parties and the media deal with challenger parties online.

Publications on this theme

Journal Article 2026

Opposition electoral strategies against democratic backsliding: the United for Hungary coalition and its 2022 primaries

Bálint Mikola and Felipe G. Santos

Democratization, 33(4), 902-926.

DOI 10.1080/13510347.2025.2522194 PDF: Opposition electoral strategies against democratic backsliding: the United for Hungary coalition and its 2022 primaries

How do opposition parties respond to democratic backsliding? Using 31 interviews with party elites and a nationally representative survey, the article studies the six-party United for Hungary coalition and its 2022 open primaries. Parties joined the coalition for pragmatic reasons rooted in years of backsliding. People who took part in the primaries tended to hold pro-democratic attitudes, to be dissatisfied with democracy and to have experience of non-electoral participation.

Why it matters: It argues that backsliding pushes opposition parties to form ideologically diverse coalitions and to take on features of social movements, and that these choices match what their voters want.

Book Chapter 2025

On movement parties and democratic quality

Fred Paxton, Daria Glukhova, Matthias Hoffmann, Diana Mărgărit, and Felipe G. Santos

In C. Wagemann et al. (eds.), Protest and Democracy. Routledge, pp. 161-167.

DOI 10.4324/9781003532507-9 PDF: On movement parties and democratic quality

The concluding chapter of Protest and Democracy. It brings together the book's findings on how citizens, social movements and movement parties interact in six European countries. It argues that democratic quality cannot be understood without considering participation outside institutions, and sets out recommendations for policymakers, including on how established parties and the media deal with challenger parties online.