Presentation of 'Identity, Partisanship, Polarization: How democratically elected politicians get away with autocratizing Hungary' – a new publication by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung's 'Democracy of the Future' Office and Policy Solutions.

On 25-26 October 2024, the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS), in collaboration with Solidar, the Group of Socialists & Democrats in the European Parliament (S&D), and Hungarian progressive foundations will organise the “Call to Europe” conference in Budapest. Policy Solutions is proud to be official Hungarian partner of this prestigious international conference.

In its comprehensive survey of foreign policy attitudes in Hungary in 2024, Policy Solutions looks at the world through the lens of Hungarian public opinion.

If voters had to choose between supporting democracy and adhering to party loyalty or policy interests, what do they choose? With an experimental research design, we surveyed 1000 Hungarian respondents in order to find out who would put democracy above all else, and what issues voters are prepared to trade-off democracy for.

Book launch of “The World Through Hungarian Eyes: Foreign Policy Attitudes in Hungary in 2024” – a new publication by Policy Solutions. The event will take place on 5 July 2024.

“Hungarian Politics in 2023”, the annual review of Policy Solutions has been published.

We cordially invite you to the official book launch of “Hungarian Politics in 2023”, an annual review of Policy Solutions. The event will take place on 19 January at Aranytíz Kultúrház.

This research aims to explore the major hopes and fears of the Hungarian society in 2023.

Book launch of “Hopes, Aspirations and Fears – A Comprehensive Survey of Hungarians in 2023” – a new publication by Policy Solutions. The event will take place on 23 November 2023.

This book, edited by Ania Skrzypek, FEPS Director for Research and Training, and András Bíró-Nagy, Director at Policy Solutions, and published by Palgrave Macmillan, analyses three decades of political developments within the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.

Book launch of “The World Through Hungarian Eyes: Foreign Policy Attitudes in Hungary in 2023” – a new publication by Policy Solutions. The event will take place on 8 June 2023.

This publication - co-authored by Policy Solutions director András Bíró-Nagy - offers a wealth of insights into the values and attitudes of young people aged 15-29 in Central and Eastern Europe.

“Hungarian Politics in 2022”, the annual review of Policy Solutions has been published.

We cordially invite you to the official book launch of “Hungarian Politics in 2022”, an annual review of Policy Solutions. The event will take place on 20 January at Budapest Music Center.

This comprehensive research reveals how Hungarian society views the two and a half years of the COVID-19 crisis. We have looked in detail at the long-term effects of the pandemic on Hungarians' fears, health attitudes, lifestyle, work and mental health.

Book launch of “Post-COVID Hungary” – a new publication by Policy Solutions. The event will take place on 18 November 2022.

This Policy Solutions research measured the degree to which different worldviews are represented in Hungarian society. We not only looked at how Hungarians feel about a wide range of issues after the 2022 elections, but also at what has changed over the course of the last four years.

Book launch of “Hungary's Political Compass 2022” – a new publication by Policy Solutions. The event will take place on 21 October 2022.

Policy Solutions is the official Hungarian partner of Progressive Governance Summit. Rewatch the highlights of Europe's largest conference for progressive politics!

This publication by Policy Solutions reveals the state of political polarization in Hungary after the 2022 parliamentary elections.

Which ministers belong to PM Orbán's innermost circle? What do we need to know about the new faces and the returning ministers? Policy Solutions analysis.

Book launch of “Divided Hungary: Political polarization of the Hungarian society after the 2022 general elections” – a new publication by Policy Solutions. The event will take place on 30 June 2022.

Policy Solutions analysis about the reasons behind the re-election of Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party.

“Hungarian Politics in 2021”, the annual review of Policy Solutions has been published.

This publication explores the major anxieties and fears of the Hungarian society.

We cordially invite you to the online book launch of “Covid-19 and Crisis Management: How Hungarians Experienced the Past Year”, a joint publication by Policy Solutions and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. The event will take place on 22 April 2021.

“Hungarian Politics in 2020”, a joint annual review of Policy Solutions and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung has been published.

We cordially invite you to the official online book launch of “Hungarian Politics in 2020”, a joint annual review of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and Policy Solutions.

Our joint yearbook with FEPS on the state of populism in Europe has been published.

We cordially invite you to our upcoming Webinar "Populism: is it transforming Europe's politics?", which will be held on Zoom on Thursday, 2nd July 2020, 15:30 – 17:00 CET.

The aim of this research was to explore the views of the Hungarian society about the regime change of 1989-1990 after 30 years.

This new Policy Solutions-FES publication reveals what the Hungarian society thinks about the last ten years of the Orbán government.

“Hungarian Politics in 2019”, a joint annual review of Policy Solutions and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung has been published.

We cordially invite you to the official book launch of “Hungarian Politics in 2019”, a joint annual review of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and Policy Solutions.

New Policy Solutions research on the main concerns of dissatisfied voters and their assessment about the work of the governing parties and the opposition.

The FEPS and Policy Solutions website of reference, the Populism Tracker sees four years of existence. This rich material is then collected in a yearly publication that we have the pleasure to share with you – "The State of Populism in Europe 2018".

The central objective of this book is to offer potential and effective answers to NGOs, politicians or anyone who wants to counter populism.

“Hungarian Politics in 2018”, a joint annual review of Policy Solutions and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung has been published.

We cordially invite you to the official book launch of “Hungarian Politics in 2018”, a joint annual review of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and Policy Solutions.

In their most recent research study, Policy Solutions and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung have sought to find out how pervasive and dominant a sense of fear is in Hungarian society.

The most recent report on populism in Europe by FEPS and Policy Solutions has just been published.

This FEPS - Policy Solutions - FES Budapest book surveys the popularity and influence of populist parties in the EU in 2017. Readers can also learn in more detail about the state of populism in five EU countries where elections were held last year.

“Hungarian Politics in 2017”, a joint annual review of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and Policy Solutions has been published.

We cordially invite you to the official book launch of “Hungarian Politics in 2017”, a joint annual review of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and Policy Solutions. Date and time of the event: 19 January 2018 (Friday), 10:00-12:00. Venue: Aranytíz Cultural Center (1051 Budapest, Arany János utca 10.)

The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Budapest and Policy Solutions cordially invite you to their joint book launch event, entitled: What is the Hungarian Dream? Conference on the Hungarians’ vision of a desirable future

The Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) and the Policy Solutions political research institute cordially invite you to our joint conference entitled:  „The Flexible Solidarity”  - How Progressive Parties Handled the Migration Crisis in Central Europe 

Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Budapest, CEU Center for European Neighborhood Studies, Policy Solutions and Political Capital cordially invite you to their joint conference, entitled: ‘Fighting Back: Liberal Democratic Responses to the Populist Challenge’.

The new study of Policy Solutions and FEPS surveys the popularity and the influence of populist parties in the EU’s 28 Member States in 2016. In this new book, we examine the countries in which populist parties were able to achieve real breakthroughs, and those in which they caused ‘more smoke than fire.’

Although political and other types of discrimination are severely prohibited by Hungarian laws, and freedom of expression is a right laid down in the new constitution, it is not uncommon for the Hungarian government to retaliate against those with opposing views – highlights Policy Solutions in its new analysis.

“Hungarian Politics in 2016”, a joint annual review of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and Policy Solutions has been published.

We cordially invite you to the official book launch of “Hungarian Politics in 2016”, a joint annual review of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and Policy Solutions. Date and time of the event: 20 January 2017 (Friday), 10:00-12:00. Venue: Budapest Music Center, Library (1093 Budapest, Mátyás utca 8.)

Although Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán is in the frontline of the fight against the current direction of the EU, the EU Parliamentarians of his Fidesz party share a more “European” view, as they still vote in line with the European People’s Party on symbolic issues – a new study conducted by VoteWatch and Policy Solutions highlights. Interesting case studies include Russia, in which, despite Viktor Orbán urge to end the punishment of Moscow, Fidesz MEPs still rejected a proposal that would have stopped sanctions against Russia.

Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and Policy Solutions cordially invite you to their joint conference: ‘The State of Populism in the EU and Hungary in 2016’. The objective of our conference to forecast the political changes in Europe based on the trends of populism in 2016. We will also investigate the similarities and the differences between the Hungarian and the western European populism.

A new paper entitled "Central European MEPs as Agents of two Pincipals. Party cohesion in the European Parliament after Enlargement" has been published by András Bíró-Nagy in the European Quarterly of Political Attitudes and Mentalities.

The Populism Tracker is a comprehensive website that aims at observing the trends of populism in all the Member States of the European Union. The website allows readers to track the popularity of all European populist parties on the Populism Map, analyse the trends with the help of the continuously updated Populism Graph, and read the studies, researches and analyses on populism published by Policy Solutions, FEPS and their partners.

Policy Solutions and the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) cordially invite you to their joint event, entitled: “Politics and Leadership: How are Populist Movements attracting Millennials and why?”

​An international conference was held by Policy Solutions and the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) on 2 June 2016 in Brussels on the political background of the refugee crisis. The purpose of this joint conference was to review how politicians and the society in central and eastern Europe have responded to the current refugee crisis.

The Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) and Policy Solutions have published their joint study to present the regional results of the Millennial Dialogue international youth research.

Policy Solutions has launched a new website with the title ‘Képviselőfigyelő’ that follows the work of representatives in the Hungarian Parliament, making the work of the institution more transparent and easier to check on.

This publication is a comprehensive overview of developments, events and trends in Hungary in 2015. It focuses on four broad areas.

We cordially invite you to the official book launch of “Hungarian Politics in 2015”, a joint annual review of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and Policy Solutions.

We cordially invite you to the joint conference of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and Policy Solutions entitled ’Is Populism the new Zeitgeist?’. The conference aims to provide an in-depth investigation on the causes of rising populism and its implications on mainstream politics in Hungary and Europe.

Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and Policy Solutions have jointly decided to hold a conference entitled ’The far-right and the mainstream’. The conference aims to provide an in-depth investigation of the interaction between the far-right and mainstream politics.

In collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Policy Solutions presents an annual review of Hungarian politics. This publication is a comprehensive overview of recent developments, events and trends in Hungary in 2014.

We cordially invite you to the official book launch of “Hungarian Politics in 2014”, a joint annual review of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and Policy Solutions. This publication is a comprehensive overview of developments, events and trends in Hungary in 2014.

We cordially invite you to our international conference entitled “Illiberal democracies in Europe”.The event will be held on the 28th of November 2014, and is organized by the Brussels-based Foundation for European Progressive Studies together with Táncsics Mihály Foundation. The event’s professional partner is Policy Solutions.

Municipal elections tend to be more grateful subjects for the spokespersons of losing national parties than parliamentary elections because there are hundreds or thousands of results, and victory and defeat are not necessarily clear-cut. Even in the worst defeat, national parties can point to some local successes that redeem their efforts or at least qualify the totality of their defeat.

On 23rd July 2014 in Budapest, Policy Solutions and the European Values Think Tank (EV TT), a Prague-based public policy research institute, organized a National Seminar on political communication of integration of minorities, consisting of a roundtable discussion and public debate.

Fidesz’ media dominance is so conspicuous that even the OSCE’s foreign observers could not help noticing it; it was a significant aspect in their determination that the government had given itself an unfair advantage in the election. Now Fidesz has done a significant step towards remedying this unfair situation by giving the left-wing opposition access to a major media outlet…

Even before the actual results were tallied, the 2014 elections to the European Parliament were regarded as unique by analysts on account of the anticipated Europe-wide rise in the strength of euro-sceptic and populist parties. The final results bore out analysts’ expectations.

We are pleased to invite you on behalf of European Values Think-Tank and Policy Solutions, in cooperation with Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies to a Public Debate, titled „Why and How Should Politicians Communicate Integration of Minorities?".

The EP election in Hungary resulted in a clear victory for the governing party, Viktor Orbán's Fidesz. The national vote was characterised primarily by an internecine competition on the left and secondarily by a battle between the far-right and the left. The Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) lost the former, but left-wing parties outperformed Jobbik.

The election is over and it has ended in a clear victory for the governing party, Fidesz. This was the first sentence of our analysis in April, and it is the first sentence again. Apart from that, the election was primarily an internecine competition on the left and a battle between the far-right and the left. MSZP loses the former and the left wins the latter.

The election is over and it has ended in a clear victory for the governing party, Fidesz. But some underlying details provide interesting and important insights. First, we offer some general observations about election night and then we proceed to evaluate the outcome from the perspective of individual parties, also reflecting on their reactions.

Policy Solutions took an in-depth look at the phenomenon of voter abstention in Hungary. Combining turnout data since 1990 with recent polling results, it has affirmed some longstanding assumptions about the segment of the electorate that is likely to stay at home on election day. It has also refined some of them, however, providing a more nuanced view of this problem.

In the study on Non-Voters in Hungary the political research institute Policy Solutions, in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, undertook to find out who in Hungary today regularly fails to participate in elections and what the underlying reasons are for this group’s withdrawal from politics.

The governing supermajority amended the constitution for the fifth time since its adoption in September. The fifth amendment introduced a whole range of changes, including three ostensibly enacted to satisfy the unceasing criticisms from abroad.

At the 2014 elections to the European Parliament, the European Socialists could attain a relative majority of votes, thereby overtaking the conservative People's Party for the first time in two decades - thus a comprehensive analysis by the Hungarian political research institute Policy Solutions, which reviewed the state of public opinion in all 28 member states.

The problem of campaign financing has dogged Hungarian democracy for two decades. Fidesz' planned reforms will hardly solve any of the problems. Instead, to further the governing parties' edge in 2014, they will create new ones.

Hungary's new constitutional regime is proving far less stable than its creators had promised. Even before it entered into effect last January, the governing parties had added a number of provisions to the Fundamental Law, some of which the Constitutional Court quashed on formal grounds.

The much awaited new Act on Electoral Procedures has been finally adopted, and from new rules on voter registration all the way to peculiar campaign advertisement regulations, it contains all the controversial elements that critics have lambasted for months.

Following the reforms of the respective laws on municipal and parliamentary elections, Fidesz has finally introduced the last piece of the electoral rules puzzle, the new bill on electoral procedure.

During the famous ping-pong diplomacy of the 1970s, the People’s Republic of China and the US exchanged visits by table tennis players to pave the way for improved relations between the two countries.

Talk of voter registration has intensified over the summer, and while some argue that Fidesz will ultimately balk because of unpredictable outcomes and/or the fear of judicial intervention, the introduction of some form of registration still appears likely.

Fuelled by the perception that its electoral victory was a mandate to influence the course of Hungarian politics for a long time, Fidesz has comprehensively restructured democratic institutions so as to enhance its own powers.

The Orbán government has reached the middle of its term and it marked the occasion with the first significant cabinet reshuffle since it entered office.

No loud gasps were heard when Fidesz nominated its MEP János Áder as the candidate to succeed President Pál Schmitt.

Through its reform of the judicial system, the government has enacted changes that may potentially significantly impact judicial independence.

With its proposal to fully release the files on informants working for the secret police under the communist regime, LMP has successfully driven a wedge between Fidesz and significant portions of the right-wing intelligentsia, as well as between the younger and older members of Fidesz’ and KDNP’s parliamentary factions.

Fidesz has promised that the spring session of parliament will be considerably more relaxed than the second half of 2011, when Parliament passed a record number of laws, many of which were controversial to boot.

Almost a year to date of his last appearance in the European Parliament, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán faced his critics again in a heated plenary session.

On January 2nd Fidesz took a little break and celebrated itself and its new Fundamental Laws at the Budapest Opera. After slightly over a week without a demonstration, the opposition, too, gathered for the occasion, though in a less celebratory mood than the official guests.

With its two-thirds majority Fidesz dominates the present, with the Fundamental Laws supplanting the current Constitution it seeks to control the future, and now Fidesz seeks to make its view of history the definitive one as well. To this end, it has introduced a law on communist crimes and how belated justice might be achieved at least in some cases.

Fidesz’ electoral law is now almost complete and most of the crucial details have been submitted in a bill to Parliament. Most of these details reflect the trends we outlined a couple of weeks ago in our analysis of the bill’s rough draft. The most important novelty – and the one we focus on in our review below – is that Fidesz has also designed the new district boundaries.

In Part II of our electoral law analysis we take a look at the more technical aspects of the new election law, analysing how changes to electoral system will affect seat distribution, voting behaviour and future majorities. We argue that Fidesz tinkers with the system in a way that will increase the likelihood of emerging victorious from a battle with a fragmented but overall strong opposition.

Just in time to fuel another round of speculation about early elections, a new concept of Fidesz’ proposals for new electoral rules emerged, supplanting an earlier proposal, which is still languishing in committee.

The times call for an economically populist agenda, and Jobbik appears to be successfully adapting to this requirement. Drawing on a mix of its own xenophobic/anti-globalisation ideas, Fidesz’ previous opposition rhetoric, and traditional left-wing ideas, it is steadfastly attacking the government’s economic policies. At the same time, a careful process of marginalizing some of the far-right movement’s most radical figures has begun.

The constitutional process is far from over: phase two is just about to begin. In the autumn the government parties will introduce the so-called cardinal (or supermajority) laws that will flesh out various areas that were only addressed in broad strokes by the Constitution.

Street demonstrations have been among the most powerful manifestations of opposition to the government.Now that the Orbán-government is cutting key benefits and entitlements, the number of those adversely affected by the government’s policies is growing, as is the ratio of those willing to express their dissatisfaction publicly.

. Now the government has put an axe to large portions of the coalition, by cutting benefits and services that affect hundreds of thousands of citizens. Especially citizens in an economically vulnerable position are likely to turn against Fidesz.

A growing number of voters refuse to name a party they would support, sending Fidesz and the entire political class a warning message. Fidesz’s popularity is reminiscent of a hot-air balloon with a small leak – the helium is gradually oozing out, slowly bringing the balloon from stratospheric heights back towards the ground.

The demonstrations of March 15th were above all an opportunity to demonstrate strength. As was expected, Fidesz succeeded. Surprisingly, the left-of-centre opposition displayed impressive strength in the streets for the first time in years. As of yet, this opposition is not willing to align itself politically.

Even though Fidesz has moved relatively swiftly in presenting its draft of the constitution, in light of the fact that it wants to have it passed by the end of April it does not leave much time for actually debating it.

Still almost two months to go until the final parliamentary vote on the new Hungarian constitution, but we already bet that none of the opposition parties will support the governing parties’ draft basic law. Fidesz has offered unprecedented concessions to LMP, but in light of the impractical conditions of the opposition parties, consensus is highly unlikely.

Politically, Fidesz stands to gain a lot by giving suffrage to newly minted Hungarian citizens across the border. Still, the opposition will be in a tough spot because Fidesz is right to argue that generally speaking, citizenship does not tend to be decoupled from suffrage.

The prime minister’s appearance in Strasbourg to introduce the Hungarian rotating presidency of the European Union yielded mixed results. From the government’s perspective, it is likely that what we posit was the overall goal – i.e. appealing to the Fidesz base at home without causing a serious backlash in Strasbourg – was achieved.

For months critics of the government’s more drastic measures have predicted that Fidesz will draw fire from the EU.

The end of the year is traditionally the time to compile top 10 lists. We gathered for a somewhat subjective list the top ten most important policies and measures enacted by the Fidesz-government since it took power.

The new media supervision law is stricter than the previous legislation, but by no means marks the end of the freedom of the press. As in many other areas, Fidesz thus far has not moved to advance its power by changing the legislative framework but rather by placing party loyalists in various independent positions.

The opposition can’t yet sway the masses, but Fidesz may gradually awaken the left-wing base from its deep slumber. Just in case, the left leaning parties and organisations are vying to offer them a wide and growing selection of leaders and organisations.

In revolutionary Hungary, the guns are fortunately silent. If all goes to plan, the inconvenient Constitutional Court will be, too.

Though it happens slightly less frequently than Halloween, Hungarians have their own version of trick or treat.

Though it is hard to tell whether on the whole this is an advantage or a handicap, it must be said that with some notable exceptions the Fidesz is nothing if not loyal to its top cadres.

Though it may seem as a whimper rather than a bang, the inauguration of President Pál Schmitt marks an important step in the establishment of the new constitutional order envisioned by the ruling party, Fidesz.