The Gramscian politics of Europe’s rule of law crisis

Figures & data

Table 1. Explaining the radicalizing positions of Hungarian and Polish ruling elites.

Approach	Core argument	Observable implications	Criticism
Autocratic state building	Dismantling of checks and balances to secure the power of self-serving elites Radicalization serves the purpose to defend increasingly authoritarian institutions	Power is all that matters Appeal to anti-liberal values is used opportunistically There is no core ideology that guides elite behavior	Can lasting power be exerted without a broader social purpose? Pays little attention to long term investment in ideology production
Ethno-populist strategies	Dismantling of democratic checks and balances is justified with ethnopopulist appeals Moments of crisis give rise to radicalization	Ethnopopulist appeals are flexibly and opportunistically used to win elections There is no core ideology that guides elite behavior	Focus on short term electoral strategies underestimates the ideological coherence long-term investment in ideology production material and ideational investment in civil society building
Ideas and Ideology production	Leading intellectuals and think tanks have been preparing the anti-liberal political project for a long time	Existence of a relatively coherent ideological core Ideology production beyond the political leaders	should be complemented with analyses of civil society building and institutional take-over
Gramscian approach	Radicalization is the expression of an entrenched hegemonic project Entrenchment results from the resources accumulated during a long-term process deploying two complementary strategies, (war of position and war of movement).	Hegemonic Project: Existence of a relatively coherent ideological core Strategies long term investment in ideology production and civil society penetration (war of position) Take over of institutions (war of movement)

Figure 1. Three strategic phases in the struggle over hegemony: war of position, combined war of position and war of movement, taking on the EU.