Is Participatory Local Democracy the Antidote to Far-Right Populism? Hungarians are About to Find out
The European Parliamentary elections on 9 June drastically reshaped the Hungarian political landscape. Péter Magyar's new party, Tisza, received 30% of the votes, the highest percentage an opposition party has ever got in Viktor Orbán's system.
Magyar, the ex-husband of Fidesz's former justice minister Judit Varga and the former director of several Hungarian state-owned companies, emerged in February after the so-called clemency scandal.
Magyar's rise has been meteoric and unprecedented in Hungarian politics. In the span of a few months, Tisza became Orbán's main challenger for the 2026 General Election which they have a chance of winning.
While his emergence gives hope that Orbán can be defeated, Magyar's rise is not necessarily good news for progressive Hungarians who oppose Fidesz's rule on an ideological basis.
As a former Fidesz member, Magyar is openly a conservative and accepts many of Orbán's party's basic tenets. He uses similar rhetorical tropes in his speeches as Orbán, his position regarding the war in Ukraine is not markedly different from that of Fidesz, and he does not propose an overhaul of the tax system.
Progressive Hungarians should not completely despair, however. The local elections Hungary held alongside the European elections in June show an emerging pattern.
Related reading: Viktor Orbán is Battling the Greatest Political Crisis of His Tenure
Several progressive voices managed to win mayoral elections with majorities in councils and will commence their term in October.
What many of them had in common was a focus on the idea of their local area being more than just a district or a village and instead interpreting it as a "community" by embracing direct participatory democracy. Their emergence is not a sudden, explosive one like that of Magyar but the result of hard and time-consuming local work and activism.
One of the major stories of the local elections was the victory of MKKP's Gergely Kovács in District XII of Budapest (also known as Hegyvidék). Hegyvidék is one of the wealthiest districts in Budapest, which until recently was considered a safe seat for Fidesz.
MKKP ('Magyar Kétfarkú Kutyapárt' - The Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party) launched as a satirical party in the late 2000s, but by the mid-2010s they started engaging in grassroots campaigns, such as renovating bus stops and painting benches and pavements. By 2019, they had some councillors in Budapest, including Kovács.
MKKP's main strategy is to use a significant portion of the funds given by the Hungarian state to political parties for campaigning to finance community projects. People can apply to their Sándor Rózsa People's Public Money Wasting Fund and democratically selected projects get funded. This way, the Dogs have funded the publication of a children's book, thematic film screenings, public community dinners, infrastructural developments at a dog shelter, and camps for disadvantaged children.
In their election campaign, the Dogs promised to elevate their voluntary activities to a council level: they pledged to have a Community Budget in the council, similar to their Sándor Rózsa Fund, where individuals or organisations can apply with ideas for projects which the council would fund.
They also pledged to have a warehouse where residents can donate used electrical goods which then can be given to other residents in need. Their council also intends to pay for materials residents can renovate their local environment with. To encourage more interaction between the locals and the council, the Dogs pledged to reform the council's website.
"During the campaign, we stressed our philosophy on several platforms: Citizens must act themselves, and, crucially, that they can act themselves to achieve change. This is the idea our party is built on and we intend to organise the district around this philosophy too," Tekla Kocsik, a newly elected councillor and MKKP's local campaign manager at the He
Magyar, the ex-husband of Fidesz's former justice minister Judit Varga and the former director of several Hungarian state-owned companies, emerged in February after the so-called clemency scandal.
Magyar's rise has been meteoric and unprecedented in Hungarian politics. In the span of a few months, Tisza became Orbán's main challenger for the 2026 General Election which they have a chance of winning.
While his emergence gives hope that Orbán can be defeated, Magyar's rise is not necessarily good news for progressive Hungarians who oppose Fidesz's rule on an ideological basis.
As a former Fidesz member, Magyar is openly a conservative and accepts many of Orbán's party's basic tenets. He uses similar rhetorical tropes in his speeches as Orbán, his position regarding the war in Ukraine is not markedly different from that of Fidesz, and he does not propose an overhaul of the tax system.
Progressive Hungarians should not completely despair, however. The local elections Hungary held alongside the European elections in June show an emerging pattern.
Related reading: Viktor Orbán is Battling the Greatest Political Crisis of His Tenure
Several progressive voices managed to win mayoral elections with majorities in councils and will commence their term in October.
What many of them had in common was a focus on the idea of their local area being more than just a district or a village and instead interpreting it as a "community" by embracing direct participatory democracy. Their emergence is not a sudden, explosive one like that of Magyar but the result of hard and time-consuming local work and activism.
One of the major stories of the local elections was the victory of MKKP's Gergely Kovács in District XII of Budapest (also known as Hegyvidék). Hegyvidék is one of the wealthiest districts in Budapest, which until recently was considered a safe seat for Fidesz.
MKKP ('Magyar Kétfarkú Kutyapárt' - The Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party) launched as a satirical party in the late 2000s, but by the mid-2010s they started engaging in grassroots campaigns, such as renovating bus stops and painting benches and pavements. By 2019, they had some councillors in Budapest, including Kovács.
MKKP's main strategy is to use a significant portion of the funds given by the Hungarian state to political parties for campaigning to finance community projects. People can apply to their Sándor Rózsa People's Public Money Wasting Fund and democratically selected projects get funded. This way, the Dogs have funded the publication of a children's book, thematic film screenings, public community dinners, infrastructural developments at a dog shelter, and camps for disadvantaged children.
In their election campaign, the Dogs promised to elevate their voluntary activities to a council level: they pledged to have a Community Budget in the council, similar to their Sándor Rózsa Fund, where individuals or organisations can apply with ideas for projects which the council would fund.
They also pledged to have a warehouse where residents can donate used electrical goods which then can be given to other residents in need. Their council also intends to pay for materials residents can renovate their local environment with. To encourage more interaction between the locals and the council, the Dogs pledged to reform the council's website.
"During the campaign, we stressed our philosophy on several platforms: Citizens must act themselves, and, crucially, that they can act themselves to achieve change. This is the idea our party is built on and we intend to organise the district around this philosophy too," Tekla Kocsik, a newly elected councillor and MKKP's local campaign manager at the He
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