Authoritarian Successor Parties as the Pioneer of Democracy: Turkey and Hungary

• In Event: Poster Session: Democracy and Autocracy (I)

Abstract

Populist leaders argue to represent “the people” against the corrupt elite, who belong to the establishment in their respective countries. In their anti-establishment appeal, populist leaders distinguish themselves from political parties that had previously governed against “the people’s” true interest. They primarily target political parties with strong roots in an authoritarian era (i.e., military dictatorship, single-party regime) but continue to operate after the transition to democracy, namely authoritarian successor parties (ASPs). ASPs can survive because of their authoritarian inheritance; however, they are targeted by populist leaders due to their authoritarian baggage s which helps them reinforce the discourse of “us versus them.” Particularly, populist leaders rally their bases against former authoritarian ruling parties (FARPs), the subtype of ASPs, and capitalize on the latter’s authoritarian baggage, including human rights violations, poor economic performance, and unpopular foreign policy outcomes. Although FARPs are blamed for being the evil elite and the embodiment of the non-democratic past, they play a significant role in the reconstruction of democracy under current populist regimes. To theorize on the relationship between populism and ASPs, this paper scrutinizes how populist leaders promote a victimization narrative to address various injustices under FARPs and the position of FARPs towards the populist regime. This paper studies two right-wing populists’ Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s (Turkey) and Viktor Orbán’s (Hungary) antagonistic attitudes toward the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP). To illustrate where CHP and MSZP stand among the anti-populist opposition alliances, this paper examines the cases of Istanbul and Budapest local elections, which were seen as the victory for democracy against populism.

Author

• Dilara Hekimci, University of Miami