Graduation Year
2026
Date of Submission
4-2026
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
International Relations
Reader 1
Terril Jones
Terms of Use & License Information
Abstract
The durability of competitive authoritarian regimes is often derived from media capture, a sophisticated system in which media institutions are structured to favor incumbent actors. Viktor Orbán’s Hungary serves as a quintessential example. For more than a decade, opposition actors were systematically denied meaningful access to the electorate, enabling Orbán to maintain his grip on power through consecutive elections. But that durability did not last. Drawing on Marius Dragomir’s media capture model and Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way’s framework of hybrid regimes, this thesis argues Péter Magyar’s landslide victory in the 2026 Hungarian parliamentary election exposed three vulnerabilities of media capture: the fragility of polarized media systems, the limits of delegitimization, and the incompleteness of traditional propaganda in today’s digital landscape. Ultimately, Magyar’s victory is best understood as a case of conditional disruption: the structural deterioration within Orbán’s system opened a pathway for Magyar’s strategic breakthrough.
Recommended Citation
Mollenkamp, Carrick G., "David vs. the Propaganda Machine: Péter Magyar and the Disruption of Hungary’s Media Capture" (2026). CMC Senior Theses. 4089.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/4089
