Hungary’s 2026 election in April ended Viktor Orbán's 16-year rule. But why did change happen when so many believed it couldn't? In this interview, political psychologist Péter Krekó, MORES co-investigator and Associate Professor at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Budapest, explains findings from a preregistered experiment that unexpectedly mirrors Hungary’s political transformation. The study tested two democratic inoculation strategies. One helped participants recognise the gradual build-up of authoritarianism. The other highlighted the cracks that emerge inside authoritarian systems—elite defections, weakening propaganda, and growing public resistance. The results were striking. Learning about these cracks in an emerging authoritarian country changed how participants perceived authoritarian politics far more than simply learning how authoritarianism gradually develops. Krekó argues that the same dynamic became visible during Hungary's 2026 election. After 16 years of fear-based campaigning by Fidesz, Orbán’s party, Péter Magyar’s TISZA movement centred its message on hope, echoing Barack Obama's 2008 campaign. The interview explores why authoritarian regimes often appear stable until they suddenly aren’t, and what Hungary can teach democracies about political change. LEARN MORE 📄 Read the study — Cracks in the System: https://mores-horizon.eu/publications/cracks-in-the-system 📖 Glossary: Fear: https://mores-horizon.eu/glossary/fear | Hope: https://mores-horizon.eu/glossary/hope 📩 Subscribe to The MORES quarterly results newsletter: https://mores-horizon.eu CHAPTERS 00:00 How Authoritarian Regimes Collapse 00:43 The "Boiling Frog" Problem 01:23 What MORES Set Out to Discover 01:39 Inside the Democratic Inoculation Experiment 02:17 The Surprising Result 02:53 Hungary's Election: A Real-World Echo 03:24 Fear vs Hope: Two Campaigns, Two Moral Emotions 04:24 The Takeaway ABOUT MORES MORES (Moral Emotions in Politics: How They Unite, How They Divide) is a Horizon Europe research project studying how moral emotions shape political behaviour, identity, and democratic resilience across Europe. #Hungary #HungaryElection #Authoritarianism #PoliticalPsychology #Democracy #MoralEmotions #MORESresearch #HorizonEurope

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