During his 16-year rule, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán could plausibly argue that his model delivered order, stability, and rising living standards. But Mexico’s government can make no such claim, suggesting that the country might find itself facing a destabilizing political transition sooner than expected.
MEXICO CITY—For 16 years, Hungary offered what appeared to be a durable new model of “illiberal democracy”: a system in which elections continued to be held, but the institutions that constrain the arbitrary exercise of power were progressively hollowed out. The architects of this model—Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party—never intended to lose. Now they have.