Why Aren’t Hungarians Protesting?

„There are few signs of such a resolve here. Heaven knows, the last 20 years have been tortuous, with economic crises, corruption, even a brief upsurge of mafia war in the 1990s. But perhaps the biggest disappointment is the almost total lack of interest Hungarians have shown in their newly found freedoms and democratic institutions.

Among the depressing findings of a recent survey of university and college students is that a mere 40 percent agree that democracy is the best system of government, while nearly one-third think that in some situations a dictatorship would work better. (To be fair, this is perhaps not an especially well-formulated question: some situations could mean anything.)

Only 43 percent of the supporters of the ruling, conservative Fidesz party think democracy is the best option, while among the voters of Jobbik, the anti-Semitic and anti-Roma party, that is down to 22 percent. The overall figure of 40 percent is likely so low because far-right Jobbik is the most popular party among the respondents, with 29 percent support among those who say they will definitely vote. Fidesz gets 26 percent and the center-left Egyutt 2014 party gets 23 percent.”