Research Interests

democratic theory, democratization, autocratization, populism, political polarization, Euroscepticism, comparative politics, politics in Hungary and Central and Eastern Europe

Selected Publications

Benedek, István (2026). Lessons in division and unity: the Weimar Republic as a historical case of pernicious polarization and the collapse of democratic trust. Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe, 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/25739638.2026.2719475 (AAM version of the study: here )

Benedek István (2026): Polarizing Transition? Opposition strategies and the rise of Péter Magyar and the Respect and Freedom Party (TISZA) in Hungary. Comparative European Politics, 24, 24 https://doi.org/10.1057/s41295-026-00460-z

Benedek István – Sebestyén Annamária (2025): Euroambivalent and Equivocal Euroscepticism: Two Shades of Strategic Ambiguity in the 2024 European Parliament elections in Hungary. Czech Journal of Political Science (Politologický časopis), 2025 (2), 190–221. https://doi.org/10.5817/PC2025-2-190

Benedek István (2025): Hungary: Viktor Orbán: The Freedom Fighter Populist. In Kasińska Metryka, Agnieszka – Dudała, Rafał (eds.): Contemporary Populist Leadership in Central and Eastern Europe. Palgrave Macmillan Cham: 101–120. 

Benedek István (2025): Populist autocratization and populist electoral autocracies: towards a unified conceptual framework. Comparative European Politics, 23 (3), 331–352, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41295-024-00401-8

Benedek, István (2024): Transforming the political public sphere: the media system of the Orbán regime in Hungary. Partecipazione e Conflitto, 17 (2), 469–489.

Bozóki, András – Benedek, István (2024): Politics in Hungary: Two critical junctures. In Sabrina Ramet P.–Kürti László (szerk.): Civic and Uncivic Values in Hungary: Value Transformation, Politics, and Religion. London: Routledge, 17–42.

Dodds, Graham G. – Joński, Kamil – Rogowski, Wojciech F. – Bozóki, András – Benedek, István (2024): Return to Power: The Illiberal Playbook from Hungary, Poland, and the United States. Politics in Central Europe, 20 (4), 487–527. 

Benedek, István – Bozóki András (2024): Két kritikus fordulópont: a populista választási autokrácia előzményei és megszilárdulása Magyarországon. Politikatudományi Szemle, 33 (3), 54–83. 

Benedek, István (2023): A populista választási autokrácia elmélete és gyakorlata: Magyarország kelet-közép-európai perspektívában. [The theory and practice of populist electoral autocracy: Hungary from the perspective of Central and Eastern Europe] PhD Dissertation, Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem (ELTE), Politikatudományi Doktori Iskola.

Arató, Krisztina – Benedek, István (2021): Are democratic backsliding and staying out of the Eurozone interconnected? In Arató, Krisztina – Koller, Boglárka – Pelle, Anita (szerk.) The Political Economy of the Eurozone in Central and Eastern Europe: Why In, Why Out? London–New York: Routledge, 40–55.

Benedek, István (2021): Riders on the storm: the role of populism in the global crisis of democracy and in the functioning of electoral autocracies. Politics in Central Europe, 17 (2), 197–225.

Research Projects

2022-2026 – Democracy in the age of identity-politics: Building a realist theory of democracy – Research leader: Dr. Körösényi, András – Supported by National Research, Development and Innovation Office (Hungary)

2020-2022 – Return of the Weberian leaders: plebiscitary leader democracy as a means of cognition for contemporary political trends – Research leader: Dr. Körösényi, András – Supported by National Research, Development and Innovation Office (Hungary)

2020-2021 – Democratization in Central and Eastern Europe (1989–2019) – Supported by National Research, Development and Innovation Office (Hungary)