Just 10 years ago, in 2013, the Republikon Institute published its analysis "Parallel Liberalisms: who are the liberal voters in Hungary?", in which it divided Hungarian liberals into three main groups: human rights, capitalist and self-proclaimed liberals. Much has changed in Hungarian public life in the last 10 years, which has also affected the identity of voters. In our current analysis, we explore the many shades of Hungarian liberalism based on our most recent research conducted in cooperation with Friedrich Naumann Foundation, 21 Research Centre and Political Capital, partly recalling the approach of our analysis ten years ago, with the aim of highlighting that the group of liberals in Hungarian society is a populous and heterogeneous one, made up of voters with different needs, yet there are some general values that distinguish liberals from the cavalcade of the Hungarian population.
Key findings:
36% of Hungarians can be described as liberal. A fairly large group of voters, 19 percent, can be described as self-declared liberal, plus 15 human rights liberals and 10 percent economic liberals, which overlap to make up 36 percent of society, meaning that 64 percent of Hungarians are not liberal in any respect.
The share of liberals in Hungary has increased compared to our 2013 survey, when only 29% of the population were liberals, following a similar methodology.
There is a significant gap between those who identify themselves as liberal and those who have been labelled liberal on the basis of their political views. In fact, 69% of self-declared liberals, or more than two-thirds, did not agree with any liberal values on human rights or economics, so they are in fact only liberal in name.
In terms of demographic characteristics, Liberals are slightly younger and better educated. They tend to live in urban areas but are also present in a high proportion in villages. Liberals have higher political participation and better financial status than the population in general.
Liberalism in Hungary is closely linked to leftism. Liberals are close to left-wing views, while right-wing views and the government parties are not popular among them.
You can read the full analysis HERE.
Supported by the Friedrich Nauman Foundation For Freedom.