@article{MTMT:36743522,
	title = {Polarizing Transition? Opposition strategies and the rise of Péter Magyar and the Respect and Freedom Party (TISZA) in Hungary},
	url = {https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/36743522},
	author = {Benedek, István},
	doi = {10.1057/s41295-026-00460-z},
	journal-iso = {COMP EUR POLIT},
	journal = {COMPARATIVE EUROPEAN POLITICS},
	volume = {24},
	unique-id = {36743522},
	issn = {1472-4790},
	year = {2026},
	eissn = {1740-388X},
	orcid-numbers = {Benedek, István/0000-0003-4977-5774}
}

@article{MTMT:37482665,
	title = {Lessons in division and unity: the Weimar Republic as a historical case of pernicious polarization and the collapse of democratic trust},
	url = {https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/37482665},
	author = {Benedek, István},
	doi = {10.1080/25739638.2026.2719475},
	journal-iso = {J Cont Cent East Eur},
	journal = {JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE},
	volume = {0},
	unique-id = {37482665},
	issn = {2573-9638},
	abstract = {This article revisits the collapse of the Weimar Republic through contemporary polarization theory. It does not offer a new archival explanation but uses a well-studied historical case to clarify how ideological and affective divisions can escalate into pernicious polarization and the collapse of democratic trust. The argument is that Weimar was not doomed by polarization alone. Social-moral cleavages, segmented publics, economic anxieties, political violence and status fears became democratically destructive when political actors transformed them into antagonistic camps that increasingly ceased to recognize opponents as legitimate participants in a shared political order. The article makes three contributions. First, it clarifies the relationship between ideological, affective, pernicious and democratic polarization. Second, it interprets the Nazi promise of Volksgemeinschaft as a strategy of exclusionary unity: National Socialism did not overcome polarization but reorganized it by redefining the political community against internal enemies. Third, it differentiates the mechanisms through which Nazi anti-pluralist mobilization, Communist sectarianism and conservative institutional bypass eroded mutual toleration, institutional restraint, coalition-building and the legitimacy of opposition. The Weimar case illuminates how democratic breakdown becomes more likely when political conflict loses the capacities that make it democratic.},
	year = {2026},
	eissn = {2573-9646},
	pages = {1},
	orcid-numbers = {Benedek, István/0000-0003-4977-5774}
}

@article{MTMT:37563402,
	title = {Cringe Communication in Hungarian Politics},
	url = {https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/37563402},
	author = {Szabó, Gabriella and Benedek, István},
	doi = {10.51480/1899-5101.19.2(43).1048},
	journal-iso = {CENT EUR J COM},
	journal = {CENTRAL EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION},
	volume = {19},
	unique-id = {37563402},
	issn = {1899-5101},
	abstract = {This article examines cringe communication as an emerging form of affective political communication that combines mockery, moral judgement, and partisan mobilization. Drawing on a qualitative multimodal analysis of seven videos produced by the pro-government YouTube channel Patrióta–Trombi Roast during Hungary’s 2024 European Parliament and municipal election campaigns, the study investigates how verbal, visual, and performative cues construct political opponents as cringeworthy. The analysis conceptualizes cringe as a composite emotional configuration blending vicarious embarrassment, contempt, and amusement, and develops a coding framework linking expressive cues, emotional responses, rhetorical devices, and political functions. The findings reveal that cringe communication systematically transforms political opponents into morally inferior, socially embarrassing, and politically illegitimate figures through insult comedy, exaggerated identity markers, and multimodal ridicule. Beyond entertainment, these videos reinforce in-group solidarity, align with governing-party narratives, and contribute to symbolic exclusion.},
	year = {2026},
	eissn = {1899-5101},
	pages = {246-270},
	orcid-numbers = {Benedek, István/0000-0003-4977-5774}
}

@article{MTMT:35162885,
	title = {Populist autocratization and populist electoral autocracies: towards a unified conceptual framework},
	url = {https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/35162885},
	author = {Benedek, István},
	doi = {10.1057/s41295-024-00401-8},
	journal-iso = {COMP EUR POLIT},
	journal = {COMPARATIVE EUROPEAN POLITICS},
	volume = {23},
	unique-id = {35162885},
	issn = {1472-4790},
	abstract = {Although the research subjects of populism and autocratization studies are interconnected, the full potential of combining their focuses—the dynamic elements of political systems and institutional dimensions—into a comprehensive and systematic conceptual framework remains underexploited. This study makes a stride in this direction by reviewing and connecting these areas through the concepts of populist autocratization and populist electoral autocracies. These concepts aim to deepen our understanding of the nature of contemporary autocratization and the stability of autocracies. While the study is primarily theoretical-conceptual in nature, it also engages with methodological and operationalization considerations, and outlines a brief research agenda to demonstrate the empirical applicability of the analytical framework and lays the foundation for future research.},
	year = {2025},
	eissn = {1740-388X},
	pages = {331-352},
	orcid-numbers = {Benedek, István/0000-0003-4977-5774}
}

@article{MTMT:35878348,
	title = {Egy hibrid médiarendszer felemelkedése. Politikai nyilvánosság az Orbán-rezsimben},
	url = {https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/35878348},
	author = {Benedek, István},
	doi = {10.55395/MK.2025.1.2},
	journal-iso = {MÉDIAKUTATÓ},
	journal = {MÉDIAKUTATÓ: MÉDIAELMÉLETI FOLYÓIRAT},
	volume = {26},
	unique-id = {35878348},
	issn = {1586-8389},
	abstract = {E tanulmány a hazai antipluralista hibrid médiarendszer kialakulásának folyamatát és működését elemzi az Orbán-rezsim populista választási autokráciaként (PVA) való kiteljesedésének szélesebb kontextusában. Megvizsgálja az olyan intézményes változásokat és manipulációs stratégiákat, mint az elfogult médiaszabályozás és -felügyelet, a célzott állami hirdetés- és reklámpolitika, valamint a harmadik félnek kiszervezett kampányok jelensége, amelyek lehetővé tették a közéleti diskurzusok felett mind jobban kiteljesedő kormányzati kontrollt. Kitér e dinamikáknak a polarizált médiarendszerre és az Orbán-rezsim autokratikus stabilitására gyakorolt hatására, kiemelve, hogy a kormány által uralt politikai nyilvánosság és az elit manipulációjára fogékony és erősen pártos közönség alapjaiban ássa alá az állampolgárok azon képességét, hogy megalapozott döntéseket hozzanak, és elszámoltathassák a kormányt. Végezetül bemutatja azokat a nemzetközi és hazai kihívásokat, amelyek nyomán a 2020-as évek közepére egy újabb kritikus fordulópont körvonalazódik, amely alapjaiban veszélyezteti a fennálló rendszer stabilitását, és amely ezáltal a hazai médiarendszer jövőjét is jelentős mértékben befolyásolhatja.},
	year = {2025},
	eissn = {1587-0308},
	pages = {19-34},
	orcid-numbers = {Benedek, István/0000-0003-4977-5774}
}

@{MTMT:36176074,
	title = {Hungary. Viktor Orbán: The Freedom Fighter Populist},
	url = {https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/36176074},
	author = {Benedek, István},
	booktitle = {Contemporary Populist Leadership in Central and Eastern Europe},
	doi = {10.1007/978-3-031-85919-9_7},
	unique-id = {36176074},
	abstract = {This chapter examines Viktor Orbán, the most influential figure in Hungary’s political landscape since 1989. Tracing his transformation from a young liberal democrat to a strong populist leader, it explores how Orbán has positioned himself as the embodiment of national sovereignty and the sole legitimate voice of the Hungarian people. Through populist rhetoric steeped in identity politics and crisis narratives, he has cultivated a profound emotional connection with his supporters, solidifying his political dominance. The chapter situates Orbán within the broader context of the regime he has constructed since 2010. It highlights how his populist vision and strategic use of crises have reinforced his image as a protector of national sovereignty, paving the way for Hungary’s transformation from a liberal democracy to a populist electoral autocracy (PEA) by the mid-2010s, all under the banner of the Hungarian people’s “freedom fight.” The analysis also reflects on developments in early 2024, including growing societal discontent and unexpected political shocks, which have revealed new vulnerabilities in the regime. By integrating perspectives from populism research and regime classification theories, the chapter offers a comprehensive account of how Orbán consolidated his personal power and how populist autocratization has reshaped Hungarian democracy.},
	year = {2025},
	pages = {101-120},
	orcid-numbers = {Benedek, István/0000-0003-4977-5774}
}

@article{MTMT:36176075,
	title = {Euroambivalent and Equivocal Euroscepticism: Two Shades of Strategic Ambiguity in the 2024 European Parliament elections in Hungary.},
	url = {https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/36176075},
	author = {Benedek, István and Sebestyén, Annamária},
	doi = {10.5817/PC2025-2-190},
	journal-iso = {CZECH J POL SCI},
	journal = {POLITOLOGICKY CASOPIS / CZECH JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE},
	unique-id = {36176075},
	issn = {1211-3247},
	year = {2025},
	eissn = {1805-9503},
	pages = {190-221},
	orcid-numbers = {Benedek, István/0000-0003-4977-5774}
}

@article{MTMT:36402459,
	title = {Euroambivalens és ekvivokális euroszkepticizmus.. A stratégiai kétértelműség diadala a 2024-es magyarországi európai parlamenti választásokon},
	url = {https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/36402459},
	author = {Benedek, István and Sebestyén, Annamária},
	doi = {10.30718/POLTUD.HU.2025.3.7},
	journal-iso = {POLTUD SZLE},
	journal = {POLITIKATUDOMÁNYI SZEMLE},
	volume = {34},
	unique-id = {36402459},
	issn = {1216-1438},
	year = {2025},
	eissn = {2064-6550},
	pages = {7-42},
	orcid-numbers = {Benedek, István/0000-0003-4977-5774}
}

@article{MTMT:35183940,
	title = {Transforming the political public sphere: the media system of the Orbán regime in Hungary.},
	url = {https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/35183940},
	author = {Benedek, István},
	doi = {10.1285/i20356609v17i2p469},
	journal-iso = {PARTECIPAZIONE E CONFLITTO},
	journal = {PARTECIPAZIONE E CONFLITTO},
	volume = {17},
	unique-id = {35183940},
	issn = {1972-7623},
	abstract = {This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the anti-pluralist transformation of Hungary’s political public sphere under the Orbán regime, embedding the developments within the broader historical and cultural context of the country. Firstly, the logic behind the transformation and the strategies of Orbán regime’s media manipulations are scrutinized, revealing how economic and political interests intertwined, including institutional changes, third-party campaigns, the decreasing transparency of public interest information, and the allocation of state advertising with political bias. Secondly, the study examines the Orbán regime’s growing influence over the media landscape, which resulted in massive media dominance by the late 2010s. This led to distorted public discourse with an increasing level of self-censorship and anticipatory obedience to the government’s narratives and diminished media independence while maintaining the illusion of media freedom. Finally, the study also focuses on the ensuing implications of these changes for media polarization and the Orbán regime’s autocratic resilience. Ultimately, the government-dominated public discourse, coupled with a highly partisan audience susceptible to elite manipulation, undermines citizens’ ability to make informed decisions and hold the government accountable, as well as plays a crucial role in securing electoral victories and maintaining substantial social support.},
	year = {2024},
	eissn = {2035-6609},
	pages = {469-489},
	orcid-numbers = {Benedek, István/0000-0003-4977-5774}
}

@inbook{MTMT:35194428,
	title = {Politics in Hungary: Two critical junctures},
	url = {https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/35194428},
	author = {Bozóki, András and Benedek, István},
	booktitle = {Civic and Uncivic Values in Hungary},
	doi = {10.4324/9781003488842-3},
	unique-id = {35194428},
	abstract = {Hungary is an experimental laboratory of autocratization, according to András Bozóki and István Benedek, who claim that the country's formal institutions of democracy have degenerated into a faade for authoritarian rule. The process of populist autocratization, initiated by Viktor Orbn, can be described in terms of a Manichean, antagonistic worldview, with a homogenizing tendency, and the prevalence of moralizing and a highly exclusionary logic of representation. The authors note that, already in his first term as Prime Minister, between 1998 and 2002, Orbán called for the political system to be based on the primacy of executive power. Upon returning to the Prime Minister's office in 2010, Orbán introduced a new constitution and incrementally eliminated the elements of rule of law. He also restructured the electoral landscape, producing a two-bloc system and, in 2015, introduced a state of exception which continues, under different names, to the present day. While the first critical juncture appeared after the mid-2000s and led to the deconsolidation of pluralist democracy, the second critical juncture marked the accommodation of the increasingly illiberal and autocratic Orbán regime in the mid-2010s. As a result of constant de-democratization, a new regime emerged that the authors call populist electoral autocracy. Both in terms of its domestic policies and in terms of its foreign policy, as of 2023 the Orbán regime is virtually marginalized within Europe.},
	year = {2024},
	pages = {17-42},
	orcid-numbers = {Benedek, István/0000-0003-4977-5774}
}