Tur-och returbiljett till demokrati : En jämförande fallstudie utifrån politisk kultur för att undersöka den demokratiska tillbakagången i Polen och Ungern

Sammanfattning

Democratic backsliding is a growing threat against peace in Europe. In the 1990s, Europeunderwent extensive democratization, including Poland and Hungary, who were painted asexemplary in the transition. In recent years, however, the countries have shown the opposite development and are today the two countries in Europe that have the fastest declining democracy. The aim of this thesis is to understand this phenomenon and investigate the democratic developmentin Poland and Hungary through process tracing from the end of World War II to the year 2020. To do so, the theory of political culture is applied to elaborate the explanations of the development. Furthermore, there is a need to do further research concerning democratic backsliding in Poland and Hungary as they are often considered equals in the academic debate. Additionally, the purpose ofthis thesis is therefore to rebut this inaccurate presentation of the countries. The results are achieved by using process tracking and most different design as main methods. Thefindings of the thesis are based on the results of the analysis, concluding that the anti-democraticdevelopments in Poland and Hungary do indeed have differences. Through the process tracking, differences are found in the explanatory variables. The countries have similar critical events whichhave shaped the countries collective memory differently. This difference is also found in how the parties have created legitimacy among the population.