The article connects the much discussed recent political develop-ments in Hungary
under Viktor Orbán with the dynamics between depoliticization and politicization guiding
the local reception of Carl Schmitt’s works. Recent developments in Hungarian politics
have been widely researched, but mostly without giving due atten-tion to political
thinking. The article argues that the reception of Schmitt’s works, both in academia
and in public discourse, has significantly influenced political thinking in Hungary
throughout the 20th century and in recent decades. By reading the history of reception,
the article aims to confirm that depoliticization and politicization are not diametrically
opposed in the sense that the former stands for the elimination of politics. Rather,
depoliticization and politicization follow from each other, as Schmitt himself described
the impossibility of neutralizing politics. Beginning with the 1920s, this article
examines three periods of Schmitt’s reception and shows that, after attempts of depoliticization,
Schmitt was increasingly acknowledged as an author who argues for an overtly politicized
account of politics. In terms of political thinking, this last development has defined
the context of Hungarian politics since the 2010s.
