How many years do we have left until the end of the (civil) world

– the restriction of rights through civil society

Abstract

Our study will focus on the Hungarian model of civil society domestication, with particular emphasis on its adaptation to authoritarian regimes. The central question is how Hungary follows Russian civil society domestication practices and what parallels can be observed between the two countries. Over the past decade, measures restricting the functioning of civil society – and, more recently, the exercise of civil rights through civil society – have become increasingly intense in Hungary. Our aim is to show what legal and political tools the Hungarian government is using to domesticate civil society, and to what extent these steps follow the Russian authoritarian model. The research is based on document analysis and model-based comparison, during which we analyze in detail the adaptation of legal and political measures. We focus on the gradual transformation of the Hungarian model based on the Russian model, with particular regard to the law on foreign agents, action against non-desirable organizations, and the criminalization of the civil sector. The results show how many years Hungary lags behind the Russian domestication processes, and the gradual elimination of the autonomy of civil society can be observed. The study explores not only the similarities but also the differences, highlighting the limiting factors arising from the European legal environment, which somewhat slow down the domestication process. The research also sheds light on how the resilience of the civil sector is changing in an increasingly narrow political space.