One of the most common critiques about the governance of Fidesz-KDNP is corruption. Despite the fact that there has been a visible accumulation of wealth associated with certain people close to the prime minister, the support of the government parties seems to be stable since the 2015 refugee crisis. One possible explanation of this phenomenon might be that corruption causes less outrage among Hungarian voters than back in the 1990s. Another reason can be that corruption as a topic has a negative effect not only on the ruling politicians but on the perception of the political class as a whole. Finally, it is also possible that some voters tend to ignore corruption if it is affiliated with the political party or the politician they are voting for.
In the following analysis of Republikon Institute, we examine the opinions connected to corruption based on the party affiliation of the respondent. We were interested in whether the perception of corruption differs significantly according to whether the respondent supports the government or the united opposition. We also examined the opinions of uncertain voters whether they are more lenient or more critical about corruption. In the course of our analysis, we examined the average of each opinion on a five-point scale according to the willingness to vote for the party-list of Fidesz-KDNP and Egységben Magyarországért. Uncertain voters are the respondents who could not answer which party-list would they vote for.
The data collection, providing the basis for this analysis was conducted through telephone interviews of 1200 people by Závecz Research Institute during November 2021. The research is representative of the adult population of the country by gender, age, education, and type of settlement.
You can read the full analysis here.
Co-founded by the Europe for Citizens Programme
of the Europen Union