Illiberal democracy in Eastern Europe sparks contagion in the West

Maciej Kisilowski says the illiberal agenda is effective because its two target groups’ conservative cultural values inherently align. He tells progressives to get used to it or innovate.

Like the rise of Soviet communism and both World Wars, the Western liberal order’s apparent collapse in 2016 could turn out to be yet another historic upheaval that began in Eastern Europe.

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán’s brand of “illiberal democracy” was quickly adopted by Poland’s de facto ruler, Jaroslaw Kaczy´nski, and is now making inroads in the heart of the West — first with Britain’s Brexit referendum, and then with Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.