Opposition electoral strategies against democratic backsliding: the United for Hungary coalition and its 2022 primaries
Democratization
How do opposition parties respond to democratic backsliding? This article analyses the United for Hungary coalition's strategy in the 2022 elections — the most significant attempt to unseat Viktor Orbán since his 2010 election victory. We examine how a heterogeneous opposition coalition formed, ran joint primaries, and ultimately failed, drawing lessons for opposition strategies under competitive authoritarianism.
Why it matters: One of the first systematic analyses of opposition coalition-building under backsliding conditions — with direct lessons for democracies under pressure across Europe.