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Freedom House to economic mismanagement and political dishones- ty. It was devastated by the 2010 election results, and has failed to reemerge as a viable opposition entity. In Poland, the center-right Civic Platform had been the dominant force until the 2015 PiS victory. It achieved economic success and gained respect in Brussels, but lost the support of the working class, the provinc- es, and all those who felt bypassed by globalization. Similarly, the elitist secular parties that had ruled Turkey for most of the 20th century were swept aside by Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, which appealed to a rising Islamist middle class. And in Venezuela, it took only a few years in power for Hugo Chavez to win over the country’s poor and marginalize the conservative mainstream parties that had led the country for decades. A second precondition for the emergence of illiberal re- gimes is a fundamental weakness in democratic institu- tions beyond the political sphere, including the media, civil society, anticorruption agencies, and the judiciary. In many newer democracies, these checks and balanc- es remain fragile: It is widely assumed that whoever controls the parliament will also come to dominate the judiciary and the security services, and the media are vulnerable to intimidation or partisan capture. liberalism seems less likely to gain traction in the United States because the courts, for example, are proudly independent, and freedom of the press is firm- ly protected by statute and constitutional jurispru- dence. But if illiberal forces have sufficient political will and the defenders of democratic institutions lack conviction and public support, anything is possible. Polls have shown that popular faith in Congress and the Supreme Court are at historic lows. A growing number of Americans question the effectiveness of representative democracy and ask whether it would be better to let the president make decisions unen- cumbered by the legislative branch. An astonishing one in six Americans believe it would be acceptable to have the army rule. And with each passing genera- tion, a smaller share of U.S. citizens believe that living under a democracy is important.’ 1. “Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Speech at the 25th Balvanyos Summer Free University and Student Camp,” Website of the Hungari- an Government, July 26, 2014, http://www.kormany.hu/en/the-prime-minister/the-prime-minister-s-s peeches/prime-minister-vik- tor-orban-s-speech-at-the-25th-balvanyos-summer-free-university-and-student-camp. 2. “Speech by Prime Minister Viktor Orban on 15 March,” Website of the Hungarian Government, March 16, 2016, http://www.korma- ny. hu/en/the-prime-minister/the-prime-minister-s-speeches/speech-by-prime-minister-viktor-orban-on-15-march. 3. Cynthia Kroet, “Viktor Orban: Migrants Are ‘a Poison,” Politico, July 27, 2016, http://www.politico.eu/article/viktor-orban-mi- grants-are-a-poison-hungarian-prime-minister-europe-refugee-crisis/. 4. “Speech by Prime Minister Viktor Orban on 15 March,” Website of the Hungarian Government, March 16, 2016, http://www.korma- ny.hu/en/the-prime-minister/the-prime-minister-s-speeches/speech-by-prime-minister-viktor-orban-on-15-march. 5. See for example “Hungary,” in Freedom in the World 2011 (New York: Freedom House, 2011), https://freedomhouse.org/report/free- dom-world/2011/hungary. 6. “Hungary,” in Freedom in the World 2015 (New York: Freedom House, 2015), https://freedomhouse.org/report/free- dom-world/2015/hungary. 7. Ibid. 8. “Hungary,” in Freedom of the Press 2012 (New York: Freedom House, 2012), https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2012/ hungary. 9. “Balint Magyar’s Latest Book: Post-Communist Mafia State: The Case of Hungary,” Hungarian Spectrum, February 19, 2016, http:// hungarianspectrum.org/2016/02/19/balint-magyars-latest-book-post-communist-mafia-state-the-case-of-hungary/. 10. “Kim Lane Scheppele: Hungary and the State of American Democracy,” Hungarian Spectrum, May 21, 2015, http://hungarianspec- trum.org/2015/05/2 1/kim-lane-scheppele-hungary-and-the-state-of-american-democracy/. 11. “Hungary,” in Freedom in the World 2016 (New York: Freedom House, 2016), https://freedomhouse.org/report/free- dom-world/2016/hungary. 12. Pablo Gorondi, “Hungary Lawmakers Debate Bill Seen Meant to Intimidate NGOs,” Associated Press, April 19, 2017, https://apnews. com/f70fa05a11fa4ec389d388b1f50acal9. 13. Mitchell A. Orenstein, Péter Kreko, and Attila Juhasz. “The Hungarian Putin?” Foreign Affairs, February 8, 2015, https://www.foreig- naffairs.com/articles/hungary/2015-02-08/hungarian-putin. 14. “Poland: An Inconvenient Truth,” Financial Times, May 1, 2016, https://www.ft.com/content/4344ca44-0b94-11e6-9cd4-2be- 898308be3. 15. Dalibor Rohaze, “Illiberal Democracy’ Spreads to Poland,” Wall Street Journal, June 9, 2016, http://www.wsj.com/articles/illiberal-de- mocracy-spreads-to-poland-1465413404. 16. Noah Feldman, “Poland's New Leaders Take Aim at Democracy,” Bloomberg View, December 31, 2015, https://www.bloomberg. com/view/articles/2015-12-31/poland-s-new-leaders-take-aim-at-democracy. 17. Alison Smale and Joanna Berendt, “Poland's Conservative Government Puts Curbs on State TV News,” New York Times, July 3, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/04/world/europe/polands-conservative-government-puts-curbs-on-state-tv-news.html. www.freedomhouse.org 39 HOUSE _OVERSIGHT_019273