Leader democracy in theory and practice: Weber and the Orbán-regime

There is a rising literature on the shift from democracy to mixed or authoritarian regimes in the Central and Eastern Europe. It has been often referred to Hungary as an example for the dismantling of liberal democracy since 2010. A few authors concerned for the anti- or illiberal elements of the policy of Orbán, and others expressed doubts whether Hungary is still a democracy at all. In contrast to this literature which aims to place the Orbán regime into the sophisticated typologies of democratic, hybrid and authoritarian regimes, the paper changes the theoretical perspective and aims to understand, describe and analyze the Orbán regime by using the Weberian concept of leader democracy. The paper has two aims. The first one is to explore the theory of leader democracy, drawn on Weber’s typology of legitimate authority and on the contemporary literature of the theory. It argues that leader democracy can be understood as a routinized version of charismatic authority, therefore it is characterized as a combination of charismatic and legal-rational authority. The major traits of leader democracy are presented such a way that provides opportunity for empirical research. Second, the paper aims to reveal the analytical virtues of the theory of leader democracy through applying it for the case of the Orbán regime. The paper concludes that leader democracy provides a fruitful theoretical framework to analyse the “gray zone” between democratic and authoritarian rule. It reveals unnoticed elements of democratic and authoritarian politics in general and in the case of the Orbán regime particular.